Oklahoma Superintendent for Public Instruction Ryan Walters has introduced a new test for teachers coming into his state from California and New York in a bid to keep out what he called “woke indoctrination.”
As superintendent of education, Walters has pursued culture war causes. In selfie video-recordings and in other public statements, Walters has condemned what he calls “woke ideology”; accused teachers of attempting to indoctrinate Oklahoma schoolchildren; referred to the Oklahoma teachers’ union as a “terrorist organization”; and claimed that the separation of church and state was a liberal “myth.”[29]
In June 2024, Walters issued a memo announcing that all public schools in Oklahoma would be required to teach the Christian Bible, including the Ten Commandments, mandating “that every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”[87][88] Walters’ announcement followed the passage of a Louisiana law earlier in the month requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all Louisiana public school classrooms.[89] Walters said that teachers who failed to comply with the mandate could lose their jobs.[90][91] In his budget request for fiscal year 2026, Walters asked the Oklahoma Legislature to appropriate $3 million to purchase Christian Bibles for Oklahoma schools.[92] On October 17, 2024, a group of Oklahomans filed suit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court against Walters and other defendants, in an effort to block the teaching mandate and the $3 million expenditure.[93]
In September 2024, Walters opened bids to supply the Oklahoma Department of Education with 55,000 Christian Bibles. The bid documents required that “Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.”[92] Only two versions fit all criteria: Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” (endorsed by Donald Trump, who receives fees for copies sold), which sells for $60, and the “We The People Bible” (endorsed by Donald Trump Jr.), which sells for $90.[92] Free or far cheaper versions of the Christian Bible are readily accessible.[92][29]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Walters_(politician)
Mmmhmm.