By Michael Gryboski, Editor Thursday, October 16, 2025

The new head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education has announced that a controversial mandate requiring Bibles in public school classrooms has been dropped.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Lindel Fields, who was appointed to the position after his predecessor, Ryan Walters, resigned, announced Wednesday that he was ending the mandate.

Fields explained in a statement quoted by NPR's Oklahoma City affiliate KOSU that he wasn't going to continue fighting a lawsuit against the mandate, and that he has “no plans to distribute Bibles or a biblical character education curriculum in classrooms.”

“If resources are left to be allocated, the timing is fortunate since the team and I are currently reviewing the budget,” stated Fields, with KOSU noting that the Bibles in classrooms mandate would cost an estimated $3 million to be implemented.

Walters, who now serves as head of a conservative advocacy group called the Teacher Freedom Alliance, denounced the decision to end the mandate in a post on X.

“I could not be more disappointed in the decision to move away from empowering our teachers in Oklahoma to use a foundational document like the Bible in the classroom,” Walters posted. “The war on Christianity is real.”

While serving as superintendent, Walters pursued multiple efforts to promote Christianity and the Bible in public education, including having Bibles in public school classrooms.

Last year, Walters announced that biblical studies would become a key part of public social studies curriculum, telling The Christian Post last July that it was “of the utmost importance that our kids get a full understanding of American history.”

“Obviously, that includes the most read book in American history, the most purchased book in American history, the most cited book in the 17th and 18th centuries: the Bible,” Walters said.

“We're not going to allow left-wing extremists and the teachers' union to keep the Bible from schools in its historical context. So, we're very proud to be the first state to put the Bible back into classrooms and make sure that our kids understand its impact in American history.”

A group of clergy, teachers and parents of public school students sued Walters, arguing that his directive “interferes with the parents’ ability to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children” and “violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act.”

“OAPA requires detailed procedures to be followed to issue a rule, including provision of notice and a comment period. Superintendent Walters made no effort to follow these procedures,” read the complaint.

The lawsuit also claimed that the requirement for Bible teaching in public schools violated the authority of “individual school districts” to “select the instructional materials that they will use.”

Last November, after the lawsuit was filed against Walters, the state education department said it had already purchased 500 Bibles for schools, The Oklahoman reported. 

In March, the Oklahoma Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee rejected Walters’ request to allocate $3 million for the purchase of Bibles for public schools.

In response to the rejection, Walters announced that he was partnering with singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame to get donations from elsewhere to secure the Bibles.

Also in March, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a stay order at the request of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, putting the purchase of the Bibles on hold pending the resolution of ongoing litigation.

Walters announced his resignation as superintendent late last month, explaining that he was taking a position with the Teacher Freedom Alliance, an anti-union advocacy group.

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/oklahoma-drops-bibles-in-public-school-classrooms-mandate.html