Education

Walters asks Oklahoma lawmakers for $3 million to fund classroom Bibles

By Beth Wallis,

StateImpact Oklahoma

Published January 10, 2025 at 5:15 AM CST

State Superintendent Ryan Walters oversees a June 2024 State Board of Education meeting in which he debuted his plan to require Bibles in Oklahoma schools.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters asked lawmakers for a $3 million allocation at Thursday’s Senate budget hearing to purchase Bibles for Oklahoma classrooms.

As previewed at a September Board of Education meeting, Walters has said that amount will be coupled with an additional $3 million from his agency, for a total of $6 million.

The State Department of Education is requesting $3.95 billion overall for FY 2026, compared to FY 2025’s appropriation of about $4.002 billion.

Over the summer, Walters debuted his directive for Bibles in fifth through twelfth grades, in “every classroom where the standards are applicable,” which may include social studies and English language arts.

Though it is unclear whether the Bible fits into current social studies and English standards, the state department released proposed standards changes last month that increase mentions of the Bible from two to more than 40. At December’s State Board of Education meeting, Walters said the new standards reinforce his administration’s argument to get Bibles into classrooms.

The proposed standards are up for public comment until Jan. 21. The state board will vote on the standards at its Feb. 27 meeting, then submit them to the legislature for approval.

The state department recently purchased 500 Donald Trump-endorsed Bibles for Advanced Placement Government courses, and it remains to be seen if the department will re-issue a bid request for more.

Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) grilled Walters about where the money will come from to defend the Bible directive in lawsuits.

“The essence of my question is, that any time the state of Oklahoma is trying to take on a policy that will require the changing of our Oklahoma Constitution through the court system, that that is a legal expense,” Boren said. “... At the end of the day, if we’re trying to have a court review something within our Oklahoma Constitution to determine if it’s constitutional or not, then we need to budget for that expense.”

Walters said legal costs will come out of the administrative budget, to which he’s requested a $5 million increase.

The department’s budget request will be taken into consideration by lawmakers, but the legislature has the ultimate authority to decide the final budget by the end of the legislative session in May.