Walters Announces 500+ Bibles Are On The Way To AP Government Classrooms

Thursday State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the purchase of more than 500 Bibles for use in Advanced Placement (AP) Government classrooms.

This purchase is "the first in the nation Bible purchase explicitly for use in schools as an academic and literary resource and is the first step toward providing Bibles for every classroom in the state," according to a press release from Walters.

In a statement Walters said,

“We are focused on ensuring we get Bibles available in every classroom in our state as quickly as we can ... I will take every step possible to ensure Oklahoma students have the resources they need to fully understand American history. By acting now, Oklahoma is leading the country on a path toward greater focus on academic excellence by providing critical historical, cultural, and literary context for our students. We are not going to change our history, and the Bible is a major part of that.”

This purchase is separate from a larger purchase detailed in a forthcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) from OSDE that will provide Bibles as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution for every classroom in Oklahoma.

Walters said these copies of the "Lee Greenwood God Bless the USA Bible" were paid for by classroom supplies money. The Bible does use the name, image, and likeness of President-Elect Donald Trump, which means his company CIC Ventures LLC does receive a percentage of the money, though is not clear how much.