Oklahoma Watch: State Education Department Seeks Bids For 55,000 Classroom Bibles

Superintendent Ryan Walters isn’t just talking about buying Bibles for schools. 

Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.

A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters. 

But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement. 

Mardel doesn’t carry the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible or another Bible that could meet the specifications, the We The People Bible, which was also endorsed by Trump. It sells for $90. 

“The RFP on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump,” Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Executive Director Colleen McCarty said.

Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the request for proposals might violate state law.

“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” Edmondson said. “It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text. The special binding and inclusion of government documents will exclude almost all bidders. If the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation.” 

Separation of church and state concerns aside, much less expensive Bibles are readily available. Paperback versions of the New King James Version are available online for $2.99 each, less than 5% of what the Trump-endorsed Bible would cost. There are many free Bible apps, too. 

Though Walters has frequently said he wants Bibles in every classroom, he has also clarified publicly that he wants them in classes where the Bible might apply to academic standards, such as history or literature. The request for 55,000 copies doesn’t fit either scenario; there are only 43,000 classroom teachers in the state, and many fewer teaching just history or literature.

If the Bibles cost $60 each, and the state buys 55,000, that’s $3.3 million.

State lawmakers are raising concerns over the RFP released by OSDE and State Superintendent Ryan Walters. 

“This is not where we need to be spending taxpayer dollars,” said House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. "He's being so specific and so narrow in this RFP that we can only point to one bible and that bible is the bible that's been endorsed by former president Donald Trump." 

The bible that fits the bill is the 'Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible', commonly referred to as the ‘Trump Bible.’ 

An ethics disclosure shows that Trump received $300,000 in royalties from the book. “He's asking Oklahomans, you know, let's use our taxpayer dollars for something like this that we know is unconstitutional. 

An OSDE spokesperson said in a statement: “We are excited to bring back the Bible in its essential historical and literary context to Oklahoma classrooms. Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent RFP process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms. There are hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect a robust competition for this proposal. As the RFP is open and ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment while bids are being placed.” 

“It's not something that everyday Oklahomans want," said Rep. Munson. 

Munson says if there was really a desire to put Bibles in the classroom, there are cheaper and even free ways to do so. “If you've lived in Oklahoma, you know about Life Church. There is a pastor there, Craig Groeschel, who has created an app,” said Rep. Munson.  

That app is called “YouVersion” with over 100 million downloads in 2023 alone it's considered the most popular free bible app on the market. “It's another day of Ryan Walters focusing on culture wars as opposed to the real needs of our students and our teachers,” said Rep. Munson.

Walters: No ‘Extra Things’ 

On Sept. 26, Walters asked for $3 million to purchase Bibles for Oklahoma classrooms as part of his agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget request to the Oklahoma Legislature. 

“We have talked about ensuring that our history courses include the role the Bible played throughout American history,” Walters said. “We’ve talked about the efforts of left-wing groups and the teachers’ unions to drive the Bible out of school. I believe it’s important for historical context for our kids to understand the role the Bible played.” 

He said the request was in conjunction with $3 million the agency was already putting forth to provide Bibles in the classroom. In a discussion with the board at the meeting, Walters said he wanted to issue an RFP and wanted the King James version of the Bible. 

“We don’t want extra things in there; historical documents are fine,” Walters said. “If it’s the King James version and the Constitution, the Magna Carta, things like that, that are also in statute that can be used in the classroom, that’s fine. But we don’t want commentary around the Bible because this is to serve as a historical reference document.”

Bidding Opened to Fast-Track Classroom Bibles

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. 

Isett said their intention with the RFP is to get Bibles distributed to classrooms as quickly as possible. 

Isett said the $3 million is coming from payroll savings.

“OSDE has realized significant personnel and administrative cost savings that can be directed toward this program,” he said. 

At least 130 people have resigned or been fired since Walters took office in 2023, according to The Oklahoman. 

‘Trump Has Praised Our Efforts’ 

In June, Walters announced a mandate that a Bible should be in every Oklahoma classroom, though it’s unlikely he would have the authority to enforce that. The Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed that school districts maintain local control over curricula. Some superintendents across the state have said they do not intend to add the Bible to their curriculum. 

“We will not be forcing our teachers to do this,” Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller said on News Nation on Aug. 12. “As a Christian myself, the idea of diminishing the word of God to a mere classroom prop is a little repulsive to me, so we will not be complying with that directive of having a physical Bible in every classroom.” 

Walters has been touting his Bible plan to local and national groups. In these interviews, he talks more about Christianity than history. 

In one interview this week, Walters claimed Democrats plan to teach kids to hate their country as well as Christianity and Judaism and said his Bible initiative is an antidote to that.  

“We are going to be so proud here in Oklahoma to be the first state in the country to bring the Bible back to every single classroom and every state should be doing this.… President Trump praised our efforts. President Trump has been the leader on this issue.”

Walters is a frequent guest on conservative podcasts, radio shows and TV stations. His agency has a $60,000 per year contract with D.C.-based Vought Strategies to book him for national interviews weekly.

Walters endorsed Trump, and many onlookers surmise he’s angling for a cabinet position if Trump wins in November. 

Trump licenses his name, image and likeness to be used in the Greenwood Bible’s marketing. The company’s website says it has no connection to the Trump campaign.

Financial disclosure forms filed by Trump at the Office of Governmental Ethics show he does benefit from Greenwood Bible sales through a Trump company, CIC Ventures LLC. His latest disclosure, obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, shows Trump received $300,000 in royalties from the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible. 

Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews said Walters is attempting to endear himself to Trump via the RFP for such a specific Bible. 

“For (Walters) to craft this RFP, to specifically identify this Bible, this document that the state taxpayers would spend money on, either is a dereliction of duty, a dereliction of stewardship or maybe it is a … signal to former President Trump: ‘Hey, hey, I’m on your team, sir,’” Andrews said.

Paul Monies and Heather Warlick with Oklahoma Watch also contributed to this article.

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.