Oklahoma teachers who refuse to teach students about the Bible could lose their teaching licenses, state Education Director Ryan Walters said in an interview with NBC News on Friday.
Walters issued a memo Thursday directing all Oklahoma schools to teach students in grades five through 12 about the influence of the Bible on the country’s founding fathers and historical American figures. Schools will also be required to stock a Bible in every classroom.
In an interview with NBC News, Walters said that if a teacher refuses to follow the Bible teaching mandate, they would face the same consequences as someone who refuses to teach about the Civil War. The punishment could include revoking their teaching license, he said, a process that requires a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters chairs.
“Any teacher who knowingly violates the law and our standards — there are repercussions for that,” Walters said. “So we deal with that on a case-by-case basis, but yes, teachers have to teach the Oklahoma Academic Standards and this is absolutely going to be a part of that.”
Walters’ new rule about including Bible teaching was immediately criticized by civil liberties and religious groups. The Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations both said in statements that Walters inappropriately promoted Christianity in schools.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State also weighed in. “Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on the children of others,” the group said in an email, adding that it is “carefully evaluating our options.”
The education department spent nine months working on guidelines for using the Bible in classrooms, Walters said. The agency targeted the Bible because it is “the book under attack,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office said in an email that existing law already allows teachers to use Bibles in the classroom while teaching and that “there is no legal authority for a memo from the Superintendent to contain content to require.”
Walters said he is confident his order will survive legal challenges thanks to the confirmation of then-President Donald Trump to the Supreme Court.
“He helped create a path to be able to do this as states,” Walters said of Trump. He added that if Trump wins a second term in November, “it will help us move the ball forward, even more than this.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
