Oklahoma defends Bibles-in-schools proposal after report that only Trump’s might qualify

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’s (R) office is defending the process for how the state will select newly mandated Bibles in classrooms after a report was released that the criteria is so narrow that essentially no Bibles qualify — besides ones endorsed by former President Trump.  

The Oklahoman reported on Friday that few editions match the specific parameters the superintendent calls for in his request for proposal (RFP): a Bible that is bound by leather or material like leather, has the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and is the New King James version of the Old and New Testament.  

“The RFP on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump,” Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Executive Director Colleen McCarty told the news outlet.  

A spokesperson for Walters’s office told The Hill that “it would be inappropriate to comment while bids are being placed” for who will supply the bibles for Oklahoma classrooms.  

“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 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 said.  

The Oklahoman found a salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education who said none of the 2,900 Bibles they sell fit the criteria Oklahoma has proposed.  

The two Bibles that Trump has endorsed, We The People Bible and God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, both meet the criteria and are sold for $90 and $60, respectively. 

Walters has asked for $3 million to buy 55,000 copies of the Bible for Oklahoma classrooms.  

The former attorney general for the state told the local outlet he is concerned about the legality of the process for selecting who will supply Bibles for the classrooms.  

“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. “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.” 

Walters had released a mandate for schools earlier this year ordering them to incorporate the Bible into public lesson plans. The guidance requires a Bible in every classroom and lessons regarding the Christian text that should highlight its historical context, literary significance and artistic and musical influence.   

Walters said schools “will comply, and I will use every means to make sure of it,” while superintendents of some schools in the state have vowed not to listen to the mandate.

“I would tell my teachers to just keep doing what they’re doing, teach the Oklahoma academic standards. Don’t worry about some of the things that are being said at the state department in terms of repercussions or discipline or anything else,” one superintendent told The Hill.