Superintendent accused of plot to put ‘Trump Bibles’ in all state schools points to bidding process

According to Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, a Republican, claims that he’s planning to put ‘Trump Bibles’ in school are just plain false.

Back in June, he announced plans to purchase a Bible for every school in the state.

“Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels, e.g. grades 5 through 12,” he said.

“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 educational standards provide for its instruction,” he added.

He finally moved forward with the plans last month:

But critics cried foul. Why? According to bidding documents reviewed by Oklahoma Watch, a left-wing non-profit, the Bibles chosen for this endeavor must include the Old and New Testaments, in addition to copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

The problem, Oklahoma Watch claims, is that only one Bible contains all of these: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible. And this, you see, is a problem because the big bad orange man has endorsed it.

“The RFP [request for proposals] on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump,” Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Executive Director Colleen McCarty told the left-wing outlet.

State Rep. Andy Fugate, a rabid leftist, even went so far as to accuse Walters of trying to suck up to former President Donald Trump.

“This is not about access to Bibles,” he told Oklahoma City station KOKH. “It’s about Ryan Walters sucking up at the national level. Pure and simple.”

Oklahoma Democrat Party Chair Alicia Andrews was equally nasty about it.

“For [Walters] to craft this RFP, to specifically identify this Bible, this document that the state taxpayers would spend money on, either is a dereliction of duty, a dereliction of stewardship or maybe it is a … signal to former President Trump: ‘Hey, hey, I’m on your team, sir,'” she said.

She and others reportedly believe that Walters is trying to earn himself a cabinet position in Trump’s administration if he wins the upcoming presidential election.

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Education pushed back with a statement.

“We are excited to bring back the Bible in its essential historical and literary context to Oklahoma classrooms,” he said. “Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent RFP process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms.”

“There are hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect a robust competition for this proposal. As the RFP is open and ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment while bids are being placed,” he added.

Appearing on Fox News late last month, Walters revealed that he has already allocated $3 million for this plan and is requesting an additional $3 million for future rollouts.

“There were several mechanisms that could have been used here,” he said. “Districts could have used the money already allocated for it. They could have used their textbook funds. But what we’re doing is we, as the state Department of Education, we’re saying we’re going to purchase the Bible for every classroom with $3 million.”

“That is what will be a new announcement today: We are actually going to purchase them, deliver them to the schools. And then number two, we’re going to be asking for $3 million moving forward to continue to supply the schools with Bibles moving forward,” he added.

In an interview this past week, Walters proudly touted the Bible-purchasing plan while mentioning Trump by name.

“We are going to be so proud here in Oklahoma to be the first state in the country to bring the Bible back to every single classroom and every state should be doing this,” he said. “President Trump praised our efforts. President Trump has been the leader on this issue.”

Vivek Saxena

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