Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters on Thursday ordered school districts to teach the Bible — including the Ten Commandments — as part of the curriculum for students in 5th through 12th grades.
In a letter sent to every school district, Walters said the Bible was an "indispensable historical and cultural touchstone."
"Adherence to this mandate is compulsory," Walters' letter read. "Further instructions for monitoring and reporting on this implementation for the 2024/25 school year will be forthcoming. Immediate and strict compliance is expected."
Walters' mandate comes one week after Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law legislation that requires all public K-12 classrooms and state-funded universities to display a poster-sized version of the Ten Commandments in "large, easily readable font" next year, an order that was immediately met with a lawsuit from myriad civil liberties groups.
It also comes the same week that the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against the state's plan to fund a religious charter school with taxpayer dollars, calling it unconstitutional.
"Public schools are not Sunday schools. Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has repeatedly made clear that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference and is unfit for office," Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a lengthy statement. "His latest scheme — to mandate use of the Bible in Oklahoma public schools' curriculum — is a transparent, unconstitutional effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students."
Walters, elected state superintendent in 2022, said the Bible is "a cornerstone of Western civilization, along with the Ten Commandments."
"They will be referenced as an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like, as well as for their substantial influence on our nation's founders and the foundational principles of our Constitution," he wrote.