The Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an attempt by the state’s schools superintendent to purchase Bibles to be placed in public classrooms.
The state’s highest court issued an order Monday that blocks Superintendent Ryan Walters from using taxpayer dollars to purchase Bibles and Bible-related material for public schools.
He had planned to buy more than 50,000 Bibles to incorporate into fifth- through 12th-grade classes.
The court’s order comes just days after Mr. Walters made news for teaming up with a country singer Lee Greenwood to get donations for leather-bound “God Bless the USA” Bibles for classrooms in the state, according to The Associated Press. The Bibles were endorsed by President Trump.
His effort, which was proposed to cost $3 million, was previously rejected by state lawmakers, AP reported.
Nearly three dozen families, teachers and religious leaders have challenged the moves to incorporate the Bible and Bible-related material into the school curriculum; on Monday, the state’s highest court agreed.
The court issued a stay, pausing any new purchase requests by Mr. Walters.
The challengers are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, as well as the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“This victory is an important step toward protecting the religious freedom of every student and parent in Oklahoma,” the groups said in a press release after Monday’s order. “Superintendent Ryan Walters has been abusing his power and the court checked those abuses today. Our diverse coalition of families and clergy remains united against Walters’s extremism and in favor of a core First Amendment principle: the separation of church and state.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt recently pushed back on Mr. Walters in a different request — this one focused on his proposal to collect students’ immigration status.
Mr. Stitt, a Republican, did not endorse the school Bible plan proposed by Mr. Walters when asked about it this week. “I’m sure most kids have the Bible app on their phone,” he said, according to AP.
Mr. Walters told KWTV, a CBS News affiliate in Oklahoma City, that he plans to keep fighting for the Bible.
“The Bible has been a cornerstone of our nation’s history and education for generations. We will continue fighting to ensure students have access to this foundational text in the classroom,” he said in a statement.
It is not the only legal battle involving religion and education out of the state of Oklahoma, which also has a case pending before the Supreme Court over what would be the nation’s first religious charter school.
Oklahoma has denied St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School a place among its charter schools, citing the religious nature of its curriculum.
Oklahoma says the school, in becoming a charter, would be a “public” actor and that would run afoul of the Constitution’s prohibition on an establishment of religion.
But the school and its backers say they are being treated differently than other charter school applicants because of their religion.
A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in that dispute by the end of June.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.