New state schools Superintendent Lindel Fields says he’s dropping a Bible-teaching mandate for Oklahoma schools issued by his predecessor, Ryan Walters.
Fields made his decision public on Wednesday, Oct. 15, the day after the Oklahoma Supreme Court gave him two weeks to decide if he wanted to withdraw Walters’ June 2024 mandate concerning teaching the Bible in classrooms and halt the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s attempt to buy Bibles for those classrooms.
The mandate drew national attention over Walters’ push to infuse Christian teachings into public schools.
“We plan to file a motion to dismiss, and have no plans to distribute Bibles or a Biblical character education curriculum in classrooms,” Fields said in a statement. “If resources are left to be allocated, the timing is fortunate since the team and I are currently reviewing the budget.”
New state schools Superintendent Lindel Fields says he’s dropping the so-called “Bible mandate” issued by his predecessor.
Walters resigned Sept. 30 to take a private-sector job, and Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Fields as superintendent on Oct. 2. A request for comment from Walters sent through a spokeswoman for his new employer wasn’t immediately answered.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court had given Fields an Oct. 28 deadline to make a decision about the mandate, which is at the center of an ongoing lawsuit.
During a briefing with news reporters on Wednesday, Tara Thompson, the interim spokeswoman for the state agency, said the deadline imposed by the court order moved up resolution of the lawsuit — known as Walke v. Walters — as a priority.
Tara Thompson, the interim spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said agency officials are working to resolve several legal challenges “as quickly as we possibly can.”
A group of more than 30 Oklahomans had sued Walters, the state Education Department, the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services in October 2024 over the mandate and Walters’ attempts to purchase Bibles with public money.
In its order, the state Supreme Court noted that in addition to Walters, there had been “significant turnover among the public officers” named as defendants in the lawsuit. None of the members of the state Board of Education named in the lawsuit still serve on the board, and neither does Rick Rose, who resigned last month as director of OMES.
“The court notes that the resignation of Superintendent Ryan Walters may ultimately lead to resolution of the pending litigation,” read the order signed by Chief Justice Dustin Rowe.
“To the extent the new superintendent intends to withdraw or rescind any or all of the above-mentioned directives and (request for proposals), now is the time to so advise the court,” the order said.
After the agency updates the court about Fields’ intention not to enforce the mandate, the plaintiffs will have 10 days to respond and tell the court if they believe any claims are left for the court to address.
Alex Luchenitser, an attorney for one of several civil rights groups representing the plaintiffs in the case, said they were encouraged to hear Fields would not pursue the Bible mandate and would discuss the next steps with their clients.
“The promise of separation of church and state guaranteed by the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions means that families and students — not politicians — get to decide when and how to engage with religion,” said Luchenitser, the associate vice president and associate legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“The attempts to promote religion in the classroom and the abuses of power that the Oklahoma State Department of Education engaged in under Walters’ tenure should never happen in Oklahoma or anywhere in the United States again.”
The lawsuit has been before the state Supreme Court for months. On March 10, the the court stayed the state Education Department’s second “request for proposals” to spend $3 million on Bibles and another RFP already issued for Bible-based curriculum for Oklahoma classrooms.
In a court filing in the case in July, Walters said he was “demanding” the court lift the stay, saying “it is essential” that the Education Department “be authorized to move forward with securing and purchasing curricular materials in accordance with the (new social studies academic) standards approved by both the State Board of Education and the Oklahoma Senate.”
The implementation of those standards, which include dozens of mentions of Christianity and its influence on U.S. and world history, also have been stayed by the Supreme Court as part of a separate lawsuit.
More than a dozen lawsuits filed against Walters remain pending in state or federal court. Thompson said Wednesday the department is working to resolve them.
“I candidly can tell you, we’re hoping to get as many of these cases dismissed as quickly as we possibly can, because not only is it work for our employees, a bit of a distraction in some ways, but also, again, it’s costing taxpayer dollars,” Thompson said. “So, I would say we are open to having those conversations through the appropriate legal channels to get as many of those cases resolved peaceably if we can, and if we have to go through the court system, that’s what it’s there for, but we’re hopeful that we can get some of these resolved rather quickly.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma superintendent says he’ll drop Ryan Walters’ Bible mandate