Days after being sued by a group of parents objecting to his effort to put a Bible in every Oklahoma classroom, State Superintendent Ryan Walters compared himself to one of America’s greatest historical figures.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. … broke the law to advocate for the Civil Rights Movement because, as a Christian, he believed he saw other biblical examples … who broke the law in order to follow God’s law,” Walters told KOCO during an interview last month. “Not my words; Martin Luther King’s words.”
While Walters may see himself as a modern-day Civil Rights icon and his actions as the 21st-century equivalent of staging a sit-in at a segregated department store, many others have accused him of disregarding the law for his own personal gain.
Since entering office nearly two years ago, Walters has pushed the legal boundaries related to teacher licenses and who can attend state Board of Education executive sessions.
Now, Walters is facing a lawsuit that claims his Bible requirement violates the Oklahoma Constitution’s ban on state-established religion.
“[Walters’ Bible] mandate interferes with the parents’ ability to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children,” the lawsuit states.
Walters originally appeared to want the state to purchase specially made “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bibles that had been endorsed by Donald Trump, according to Oklahoma Watch.
This month, the state Department of Education canceled that specific bid request. An agency spokesperson told Oklahoma Watch that a new request for Bible bids will be issued later.
Republican critics
Walters’ critics claim he has built his administration on culture war issues designed to get him maximum attention among a conservative base that could be important, should he someday run for governor. Some have also wondered if he sees a potential cabinet appointment in a future Trump administration.
Records obtained by numerous news outlets have shown Walters has spent thousands of state dollars to travel to various conservative events and hire a public relations firm to pitch him as a guest on television, including Fox News.
Walters has accused any criticism as engineered by Democrats and liberals. He has called them “terrorists” and falsely claimed they have pushed for pornography in schools.
“It’s just a woke mob,” Walters said after a recent Board of Education meeting.
But his critics can be found across the political spectrum.
Republican Representative Mark McBride recently asked the state’s attorney general to weigh in on the legality of Walters purchasing Bibles for schools. Last month, McBride also requested a federal investigation into how Walters is managing funds, which he said have often been delayed in getting to schools.
“I don’t know of a school district that hasn’t had questions about [getting] funds,” Walters said.
In some state legislative races, Republican candidates tried to distance themselves from Walters.
“It’s certainly concerning,” Emily Gise, a Republican candidate in House District 90, told NonDoc. “He spends a lot of time in the media, and that is concerning to me as well when you consider that 80 percent of fourth-graders aren’t where they need to be. I think it’s time to buckle down and get serious, because those will be our future leaders and voters.”
Gise won the southwest Oklahoma City seat with 66 percent of the vote.
Walters has also been criticized by public school leaders.
Rob Miller, superintendent of Bixby Public Schools, recently accused Walters of ignoring the state’s teacher shortage and failing to funnel federal funding, including Title 1 funds for low-income students, to schools.
“Maybe [Walters] can take a break from his travel and media events, stop by the office — if he remembers where it is — and help us out,” Miller recently posted on social media.
Larger plan
The push for Bibles in each classroom is not Walters’ first attempt to incorporate Christian indoctrination in schools.
Last year, he wanted daily moments dedicated to prayer, displays of the Ten Commandments in each classroom and a “Western civilization” course that would include teaching from the Bible and other protestant documents.
Those proposals were first pitched by Oklahoma Advisory Council on Founding Principles, an organization that was formed to present Walters with ideas on how to embrace Christianity in schools.
“The founding principles of the United States of America have established and enshrined a land of hope and freedom based upon Judeo-Christian values. That is a historical observation,” wrote Stephen Hamilton, a Catholic priest and member of the council.
But claims of America’s Christian founding have been dispelled by many historians and groups that promote the First Amendment’s prohibition against government-sponsored religion.
“Walters repeats the big lie that our nation was founded on belief in a deity,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom from Religion Foundation. “In fact, the framers [of the nation] adopted the world’s first godless and entirely secular Constitution. They wanted a nation where individuals could believe — or disbelieve — as they wish, and that requires the government to stay out of the religion business.”
This article appears in Queen of Oklahoma.