Oklahoma's Department of Education ordered every teacher in the state to have a Bible in their classroom and to teach from it, in an announcement on Thursday that challenges U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have found state sponsorship of religion to be unconstitutional.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction, announced the order with immediate effect at Thursday's Department of Education board meeting, in which he said special attention will be afforded to the Ten Commandments.
"Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma," he said.
He called the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, one of the "foundational documents of ... Western civilization." He said important historical figures, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to the text.