Families and teachers join demand for Supreme Court to remove Bibles from Oklahoma schools

A coalition of parents, students, teachers and faith leaders are asking the state’s highest court to block the state superintendent’s mandate to teach the Bible in public schools and his agency’s impending $3 million purchase of Bibles. They argued that the Bible mandate violates constitutional protections of religious freedom and that the Department of Education doesn’t have the authority to spend state funds on Bibles or dictate schools’ curriculum or textbooks. Walters issued two memos to public school superintendents this summer, on June 27 and July 24, mandating they incorporate the Bible into schools’ curriculum immediately and maintain physical copies of the Bible and Ten Commandments in every classroom. In September, the Board of Education, which Walters chairs, approved a $3 million line item to buy Bibles in the fiscal year 2026 agency budget.