$3 million could go from OSDE payroll to 55,000 Bibles
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A bid proposal for 55,000 Bibles was sent out after State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced his agency having and using $3 million for Bibles in the class.
"We were like wait, wait a minute," said Oklahoma Watch reporter, Jennifer Palmer.
Palmer, Paul Monies, Heather Warlick, and the Oklahoma Watch team have been combing through the Department of Education's Request for Proposal (RFP) for days. They discovered the money was coming from the department's payroll services area per OSDE Communications Press Secretary Dan Isett.
"Dan Isett told us that yes, they are taking it from payroll services," said Palmer. "We've been asking that question since after the meeting. I know how legislators appropriate money. And legislators did not appropriate $3 million for Bibles."
She's right. Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore) said that there are a lot of legal challenges that come with a proposal for 55,000 Bibles and using $3 million from payroll.
"You can’t take money from one place and just put it in another," said Rep. McBride.
Representative McBride said that the questions arise when you look into where the money was taken from, and he said that the Secretary of Education has to approve purchases over $25,000.
News 4 reached out to Secretary of Education, Nellie Sanders, to see if she had approved the spending or known about it, but hasn't heard back.
Several requirements are contained within the RFP; the Bible has to include the Constitution, they have to be the King James Version, it has to have the Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence and the Old and New Testaments.
"We were looking through several bible reviews online and found two that line somewhat up with the requirements, the Lee Greenwood Bible and the We The People Bible," said Palmer.
The Lee Greenwood Bible is endorsed by President Donald Trump, money from sales partially goes to him and not necessarily his campaign.
The God Bless America Bible lines up with almost every requirement in the RFP, but it leaves out many amendments, specifically Amendments 11 through 27.
Some of the Amendments that are not within that Bible are the ones giving women the right to vote and the abolition of slavery.
The price of that Bible is around the same price as 55,000 Bibles broken down within the $3 million price range.
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Walters said finding a Bible vendor should go through the competitive bidding process because that would be the cleanest, easiest way to choose.
The board did not discuss purchasing Bibles with the current budget year appropriation. However, the state issued the solicitation Monday, and it’s open for just two weeks. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services typically recommends at least four weeks.
Dan Isett, a spokesman for the Education Department, said their intention with the RFP is to get Bibles distributed to classrooms as quickly as possible. "
Oklahoma Watch - Jennifer Palmer, Paul Monies, and Heather Warlick
"He (former President Trump) earns royalties from it using his name and image," said Palmer.
There is no specified vendor just yet on the RFP.
Another question is about whether the school districts would even use the Bibles when they land on their doorstep.
Several districts came out this summer saying they wouldn't obey the mandate. They said that they would stick to the law which gives the local districts the choice of what material goes inside their schools.
The RFP has listed over 540 school addresses and stated, "An estimate of 100 bibles per shipment may be used as an average; however, the size of the school districts should be taken into consideration. Larger school districts will likely require more than 100 Bibles due to the number of teachers/classrooms."
Palmer said that based on the numbers they have, there are around 43,000 teachers in Oklahoma schools.
"So 55,000 is a lot for the amount of teachers that are here," said Palmer.
News 4 reached out to OSDE Friday morning but did not hear back.