Summary
Oklahoma’s education department has modified its request for bids to supply 55,000 Bibles for public school classrooms following criticism that the original specifications favored Bibles endorsed by former President Donald Trump. The initial requirements were seen as excessively narrow, effectively limiting competition to only two specific Trump-endorsed versions, raising concerns about potential violations of state law and the appropriateness of such a mandate in public education.
In June, Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a plan to integrate Bibles into the curriculum for grades 5 through 12, which included mandates for the King James Version containing both the Old and New Testaments, along with U.S. founding documents. The original bid request required specific binding and document inclusion that only two Bibles met: the “God Bless the USA Bible” endorsed by Lee Greenwood and the “We The People Bible” endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. Critics, including former state officials and civil rights organizations, argued that the specifications were crafted to benefit Trump’s financial interests and could undermine competitive bidding processes. In response to the backlash, the state has adjusted the bid requirements to allow more flexibility in the selection of Bibles, although many school districts continue to resist the mandate, citing concerns over the separation of church and state and the appropriateness of using religious texts in public education.
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