OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Thursday, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that over 500 Bibles have been purchased for Advanced Placement Government classrooms.
According to a release from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the purchase is separate from a forthcoming Request for Proposal aimed at providing Bibles in addition to the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution in every Oklahoma classroom.
"We are focused on ensuring we get Bibles available in every classroom in our state as quickly as we can," Walters said. "I will take every step possible to ensure Oklahoma students have the resources that they need to fully understand American history. By acting now, Oklahoma is leading the country on a path toward greater focus on academic excellence by providing critical historical, cultural, and literary context for our students. We are not going to change our history, and the Bible is a major part of that."
According to the College Board's U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, "AP courses foster an open-minded approach to the histories and cultures of different peoples. The study of different nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities is essential within a variety of academic disciplines. AP courses ground such studies in primary sources so that students can evaluate experiences and evidence for themselves."
The words "Bible", "Christianity", and "God" are never specifically mentioned in the 198-page document.
OSDE previously posted an RFP seeking 55,000 Bibles for Oklahoma schools. That RFP was later canceled by the department, reportedly so that they could issue a new proposal that no longer required all of the requested materials to be bound together.
Walters said in September that $3 million would used to purchase Bibles—funding that would be taken, according to Oklahoma Watch, from the department's payroll services.
