"As parents, my husband and I have sole responsibility to decide how and when our children learn about the Bible and religious teachings," said Erika Wright, one of the plaintiffs who has two school-aged children.
Walters' mandate includes spending at least $3 million of taxpayer funds to purchase 55,000 Bibles for public schools, which would also include the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution in them. The suit also claimed that Walters and the Board of Education do not have the authority to enact such a mandate.
"As parents, my husband and I have sole responsibility to decide how and when our children learn about the Bible and religious teachings," said Erika Wright, one of the plaintiffs who has two school-aged children, as per the Daily Mail. "It is not the role of any politician or public school official to intervene in these personal matters."
The plaintiffs are represented by several civil rights groups, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice.
Despite the pushback, Walters, a former public school teacher elected in 2022 who ran on a platform of fighting "woke ideology" by ridding the schools of "radical leftists" indoctrinating students, declared in a post on X that he would "never back down to the woke mob."
"The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has impacted our nation, in its proper historical context, was the norm in America until the 1960s and its removal has coincided with a precipitous decline in American schools," Walters wrote.
While announcing the proposal in June, Walters said at the time: "The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone. Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation, which is why Oklahoma education standards provide for its instruction. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country."
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