Oklahoma state schools superintendent defended the state’s process of seeking bids for 55,000 Bibles with strict criteria that appear to match only two verson — both of which have been endorsed by Donald Trump and are being hawked by the former president for $60 and $90 each, according to reports.
To meet a mandate that all of the state’s schools must teach the Bible, the state Education Department on Monday sent out requests for proposals with narrow specifications.
The Bibles must be the King James Version, must include the Old and New Testaments, and the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights — and be bound in leather or leather-like material, the Oklahoman reported Friday.
The report said a salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education said none of the 2,900 Bibles they sell match the criteria.
Just two Bibles do: The $60 “God Bless the U.S.A.” and the $90 “We The People Bible” that are endorsed by Trump.
Mardel doesn’t carry either version.
A spokesperson for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters told The Hill that “it would be inappropriate to comment while bids are being placed” but said the process would be transparent.
The demands for the Bibles to be used in Oklahoma schools is highly unusual because it requires that the religious book be conjoined with (only) U.S. government documents.
Christ famously instructed — as recorded in the Bible — to keep religion and government separate when he said: “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” or “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Ironically, the Oklahoma schools spokesman said: “We are excited to bring back the Bible in its essential historical and literary context to Oklahoma classrooms. Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent RFP [request for proposals] process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms.”
There are “hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect a robust competition for this proposal,” the spokesperson added.
The Oklahoman newspaper reported that cheaper Bibles are available, including paperback versions of the New King James Version for $2.99 each online.
It also pointed out that the least expensive Trump Bible would cost the state $3.3 million if it bought 55,000 of them.
Walters last month sought $3 million from the legislature to buy Bibles for school classrooms as part of the education department’s fiscal year 2026 budget request, the Oklahoman reported.
A former state attorney general is among those with questions.
“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” former AG Drew Edmondson complained.
“It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text. The special binding and inclusion of government documents will exclude almost all bidders. If the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation,” Edmondson said.
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