State Supreme Court says Christian education head can't force schools to teach the Biblehttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/09/state-supreme-court-says-christian-education-head-cant-force-schools-to-teach-the-bible/Daniel Villarreal (19 Sep 2025)
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) cannot force schools to incorporate the Bible and Christianity into new social studies standards.
In June 2024, Walters and the OSBE issued a guidance saying that K-12 school lessons should focus on the Bible's influence on history, literature, music, and other arts and culture. Walters' guidance commanded every classroom to contain a physical copy of the Bible and copies of the Ten Commandments, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence.
After Walters released his guidance, about 33 Oklahoma parents, children, public school teachers, and faith leaders joined the lawsuit, Rev. Dr. Mitch Randall v. Ryan Walters, alleging that the guidance violated the separation of church and state and state rule-making laws. The plaintiffs in the case were represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
AU said that Walters' guidance were "replete with several dozen references to the Bible and Christianity while containing few mentions of other faiths; inaccurately present[ed] Bible stories as literal, historical facts; inaccurately proclaim[ed] the Bible's and Christianity's influence on the founding of America and the country's laws; and require[d] other inaccurate teachings..."
