This article was originally published in Oklahoma Voice.
OKLAHOMA CITY — New guidelines from Oklahoma City Public Schools regarding a state mandate to teach the Bible require teachers to refer to the historical and literary aspects of the text only in the “specific instances” where the state’s academic standards allow.
When releasing the guidelines on Wednesday, school superintendent Jamie Polk also advised teachers to document detailed lesson plans and not deviate from district-approved teaching materials.
The Bible “should not be used for preaching or indoctrination,” and schools in Oklahoma City, the state’s second-largest district, must remain “absolutely neutral and objective” when referring to it, Polk said.
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“Our goal is to provide a balanced, objective approach that is sensitive to diverse beliefs by adhering to both state and federal laws and regulations,” she said in a memo to teachers returning to work this week.
Last month, State Superintendent Ryan Walters ordered all Oklahoma school districts to teach about the historical and literary value of the Bible starting in the 2024-2025 school year.
His mandate also includes requiring that all classrooms have a copy of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution.
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The purpose of Walters’ decision is to add additional guidelines to the state’s academic standards, a long list of topics and concepts that Oklahoma’s public schools must teach.
The Bible is not mentioned in existing standards for social studies, English, visual arts, or music—the subject areas Walters identified for Bible instruction. The social studies standards, however, require schools to teach about major world religions and the role of religion in the establishment of some American colonial governments.
Walters’ guidelines seek a much deeper examination of the Bible, including analysis of Biblical passages, explanations of their influence on Western civilization and American history, and references to it in literature and the visual arts.
“To ensure that our students are equipped to understand and contextualize our nation, its culture, and its founding, every student in Oklahoma will learn the Bible in its historical, cultural, and literary context,” Walters said in a statement about the mandate.
The order quickly became controversial due to concerns about the separation of church and state and local control over school curriculum. Leaders of several school districts have since said their districts will not implement any further instruction on the Bible beyond what is already required by state standards.
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According to Polk, her directive is intended to provide teachers with legal protection in the event one of them faces a complaint.
“We have to protect teachers, and when this came out, one of the first things we did was we got together as a team, and I had the curriculum department at the table and I had the legal department at the table,” Polk said in an interview with the Oklahoma Voice. “I asked the legal team, ‘If one of our teachers got in trouble because of the Bible, what would you need to defend them?’”
Documenting lesson plans, including how teachers present the information to students, will be “essential,” she said.
The Center for Education Law, an Oklahoma City law firm that provides legal counsel to OKCPS, expressed doubts about the feasibility of Walters’ Bible mandate. Any attempt by the state to dictate how Oklahoma schools teach academic standards would infringe on local district authority and is “void under Oklahoma law,” the law firm wrote in a letter to schools.
Polk’s statement to teachers on Wednesday also referenced another, similarly polarizing announcement from Walters, which asked schools to provide a cost analysis of educating undocumented students. Walters said his administration would release guidance on the issue in the coming weeks.
Families are not required to provide information about their immigration status to enroll their children in public schools. The Oklahoma City district does not ask for those details, and Polk said it has no plans to do so.
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The recent orders made for a rocky start to Polk’s tenure as Oklahoma City’s schools superintendent this summer, but after 36 years in education, she knows “there’s always something” that sparks debate.
She said she still aims to maintain a working relationship with the Department of Education to ensure students “have what they need to have a diploma in one hand and a plan in the other when they walk across the stage.”
“The issues change, but there is always conflict,” Polk said, reflecting on the national controversies that have arisen over the past few decades. “But how do we as Americans navigate through problems?
“So how can we sit down at the table and let me hear your voice, so that I can accept your point of view, but then you can also hear my voice?”
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein with questions at info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.
