Plaintiff in lawsuit over Bible mandate says Walters is violating constitution, religious liberty of students
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma public school parent, who signed on to a lawsuit challenging State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ mandate ordering public schools to teach from the Bible, says she is a Republican and devout Christian, but doesn’t want the government making a choice she says should be left up to parents.
On Thursday, a group of 32 parents, faith leaders and teachers from across Oklahoma filed lawsuit asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block state superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s (OSDE) controversial mandate ordering public schools to teach from the Bible.
Erika Wright, president of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition, is one of 14 public school parents who signed on to the suit.
“The lawsuit is really about putting a stop to this unconstitutional mandate that violates the Oklahoma Constitution,” Wright told News 4. “I truly believe that as a mother and a devout Christian, that it is solely the responsibility of myself and my husband to make all decisions regarding when and how our children engage with the Bible and its religious teachings.”
Additionally, faith leaders from Church of Christ, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic congregations in Oklahoma signed on too.
“I think we are all kind of united together as Oklahomans and Americans in in a quest to stand up and say no to this direct violation not only of our state constitution, but our personal religious freedoms,” Wright said.
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Freedom from Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Justice will represent the 32 plaintiffs.
The suit also names leaders from the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) as defendants.
OMES is the state agency responsible for administering the state’s Bible purchasing process.
Walters, fired back at the lawsuit in a statement on Thursday, writing:
“Oklahomans will not be bullied by out-of-state, radical leftists who hate the principles our nation was founded upon. The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has impacted our nation, in its proper historical and literary context, was the norm in America until the 1960s and its removal has coincided with a precipitous decline in American schools. It is not possible for our students to understand American history and culture without understanding the Biblical principles from which they came, so I am proud to bring back the Bible to every classroom in Oklahoma. I will never back down to the woke mob, no matter what tactic they use to try to intimidate Oklahomans.”
Wright says Walters’ claims about the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are simply not true.
“I'm an Oklahoman. I've lived here my entire life,” she said. “I am a Christian. I'm also a registered Republican. And in no way, shape or form in my part of any organized left woke mob… just because we don't agree with this does not mean that we are part of some left-wing conspiracy.”
Wright insists the suit is simply about respect, not only for the Oklahoma Constitution, but also for the public school students, families and teachers Walters serves.
“As a Republican, I believe this is about as anti-American and an epitome of government overreach as you can as you can come to,” Wright said. “And so the fact that Ryan Walters is more concerned about grabbing news headlines than he is concerned with the academic welfare of our children is a sad state of affairs.”