OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — State Superintendent for Public Instruction Lindel Fields dismissed the mandate to put Bibles in schools.
“I can tell you that Superintendent Fields has no plans to distribute Bibles or a biblical charactered curriculum and we intend to file a motion to dismiss the proceedings,” shared Tara Thompson, the Director of Communications for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
It’s been about a year since former Superintendent Ryan Walters announced “God Bless The U.S.A.” Bibles would be put into every classroom, and state money would be used to buy and distribute hundreds of copies.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an order for Fields to decide the future of the mandate requiring Bibles to be incorporated into the school curriculum.
Filed on Tuesday, the order gave current Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) leadership until Oct. 28 to advise the court if the mandate will remain in effect.
Following Walters’ resignation and Fields’ appointment to the position, the OSDE said they will not be defending the mandate in court and asked for the case to be dropped.
“Is it the best expense of taxpayer dollars?” asked Thompson. “That’s the question that we’re asking as we do much of our reviewing. Are we spending taxpayer dollars wisely and as good stewards? And if the answer to that is no, then we need to start looking at rescinding or making changes to things that have been put in place.”
This is only one of five outstanding lawsuits placed on the agency.
The revised social studies standards are also pending at the state’s highest court as state justices advise schools to use the 2019 standards until a decision is made.
The decision regarding the revised standards could impact the agency’s budget proposal due next week.
“At this point, we’re trying to figure out, again, what guidance do we give districts? Is it to revert back to those 2019 standards, which could then even have further implications? Do the textbooks that were supposed to be purchased for curriculum for social studies, what happens now for local districts? There’s still a lot of unanswered questions that we’ve got to find solutions and answers to to be able to give districts guidance.”
There are still dozens of areas the new administration at OSDE is trying to clear up from their predecessors, including:
- Prager-U Contracts
- State Testing
- Teacher Tests
- Turning Point Chapters
OSDE said they’re still working to learn what mandates were actual contracts, those that were spoken agreements, and those that were simply announcements with no records backing them.
