OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) — An Oklahoma State School Board member and multiple state lawmakers voiced concerns Thursday after State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced he would like the state to give his agency an additional $3 million in taxpayer dollars to purchase New King James version Bibles to put in public school classrooms.
News 4’s cameras were rolling in the Oklahoma State School Board’s meeting room Thursday when Walters began the board’s monthly meeting by announcing he would be requesting the state legislature allot the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) an additional $3 million in next year’s budget to help OSDE purchase Bibles to put in Oklahoma public school classrooms.
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Walters said the $3 million he was requesting would add to an existing $3 million he claimed OSDE has already allotted for Bibles, for a total of $6 million.
“We’ve talked about the efforts of left-wing groups and the teacher’s unions to drive the bible out of school,” Walters said in his opening remarks Thursday. “This would give us the ability to utilize $6 million in less than two years to ensure that the Bible hasn’t been driven out of Oklahoma classrooms, and would be a significant step for the State of Oklahoma to ensure that we’re not allowing the left to censor American history.”