It will now be mandatory for all schools in Oklahoma to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments into their lessons in grades 5 through 10, mostly for historical meanings.
Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction, issued the announcement on Thursday to superintendents all over the state. Walters added that the move is in line with educational standards that were approved in May 2019.
“We’ve seen the radical leftist drive God out of schools, drive the Bible out of schools, and we have to make sure that our kids have an understanding of what made America great. Not teaching our kids about the faith of our founders and the influence that the Bible had in our history is just academic malpractice,” Walters stated.
For instance, when students learn about subjects such as the Mayflower Compact, which was before the U.S. came to be, they will review quotes from pilgrims that referenced the Bible.
During the Civil Rights Movement, leaders also made numerous references to the Bible, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham Jail.
For people who are not religious,Walters wants them to know that the lessons that involve the Bible are only for historical meaning.
“The left can be offended, that’s fine. They can be offended all they want, but what they can’t do is rewrite history. That is our history. That is the history of this country,” he noted.
Walters says that the State Department of Education will provide teaching materials to ensure uniformity across the state.
The new curriculum will begin in the 2024-25 school year, and superintendents will be getting more information about monitoring and reporting on the new initiative.
