The Oklahoma state superintendent vowed on Wednesday to force public schools to comply with his mandate that they teach the Bible and issued striking guidance for teachers, amid pushback from critics who say the move infringes on students’ religious freedom.
According to the guidance from Ryan Walters, the Republican state superintendent, every teacher must be given “a physical copy of the Bible, the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments.” It breaks down how instructors should teach the Bible — including its historical context, literary significance and influences on the arts and music — and by grade levels from five to 12.
The guidance comes about a month after Mr. Walters, a conservative Christian and former high school history teacher, directed all state K-12 schools to teach the Bible. The mandate was seen as an extraordinary move to push the limits of religious instruction in public schools, and reflects a growing view among conservatives that American democracy should be explicitly rooted in Christian values.
The directive was met with swift criticism from school district officials and others who said it infringed on students’ and teachers’ rights to religious freedom. Some school district leaders have responded with defiance, vowing to not comply with the requirement. But in a social media post announcing the guidance, Mr. Walters sought to crack down on any resistance.
“We will not allow rogue districts and administrators to indoctrinate hatred of America by refusing to teach foundational Oklahoma standards,” Mr. Walters wrote on X. “You cannot rewrite history. The left does not like it, but it will be taught.”
The guidance instructs teachers on how to integrate the Bible into their classes. For example, instructors must describe how the Bible shaped Western concepts of justice and influenced documents like the Declaration of Independence and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and explore biblical references to illustrate literary techniques like allegory and metaphor.
Detailing instructions by grade level, the memo says fifth graders should be introduced to the historical context in which the Bible was written, while middle school students should be taught to compare biblical stories with myths and legends from other texts. In high schools, teachers are encouraged to guide discussions on the “ethical and philosophical ideas” in the Bible.
The guidance, released just a few weeks before the new school year is set to begin, appears designed to try to head off concerns that the mandate violates religious freedoms. It says that teachers should emphasize “only its historical, literary and secular benefits, ensuring compliance with legal standards and precedents,” and that the Bible should be used “for its historical, literary and secular value” — not for religious purposes “such as preaching, proselytizing or indoctrination.”
When he introduced the mandate in June, Mr. Walters said that every teacher “will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom,” but the guidance doesn’t detail how it should be incorporated into science or math classes, or grade levels younger than fifth grade.
Stacey Woolley, the president of the Tulsa school board, is among the school district leaders who opposed the directive. She called the memo’s emphasis on teaching the Bible as a historical text disingenuous, and said that purchasing all the required documents for thousands of the district’s classrooms would be expensive. She added that her district would be sticking to the existing state academic standards. (The state’s standards for social studies require students to learn about major religions, including Christianity, but don’t require the teaching of specific religious texts.)
The superintendents of Norman Public Schools — which has about 16,000 students — and the Mid-Del School District — which has around 13,000 students in the Oklahoma City area — have also come out against following the directive.
“While passages from the Bible have relevance to understanding specific works of literature or historical events, it is not appropriate for us to mandate that all classrooms will have a Bible, or that all teachers will use it for instruction,” said Rick Cobb, who leads the Mid-Del School District.
The debate around religious teachings in public schools has come into the spotlight in recent months. The Bible directive in Oklahoma came a week after Louisiana required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, which a group of parents has challenged in court, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The state agreed last week not to enforce the law until Nov. 15 while the court considers the merits of the case.
Oklahoma’s mandate could also be challenged in court — and Ms. Woolley believes it will eventually land at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I firmly believe that the intention of the state superintendent of schools is to get separation of church and state in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, and so this is just one step along the way,” she said.
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