Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s right-wing state school superintendent, set off a firestorm when he said he planned to spend $6 million to buy Bibles for every classroom in Oklahoma.
But then the bid specifications for that planned buy, which may not even be funded, came to light, and observers noticed a peculiarity: The type of Bible Walters is seeking appears suspiciously similar to the “God Bless the USA Bible,” a $59.99 King James Version endorsed by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and country singer Lee Greenwood.
“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson told The Oklahoman newspaper.
“It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text,” the Democrat said. “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.”
The controversy is the latest in a long series for Walters, a former state teacher of the year who won election in 2022 to the superintendent’s office in part by repeating the lie that students were identifying as cats in schools and asking to use cat litter in bathrooms.
Walters has been seen as a likely GOP candidate for governor in 2026 in the deeply Republican state, and his courting of controversy could plow the way by raising his public profile.
In August, Walters held a news conference outside the state Capitol’s House chamberto defend himself against an attack by an Oklahoma lawmaker and to deny he was angling for higher office. But his remarks may have fanned speculation.
“This is a clear attack on who he views as his biggest political opponent in that governor’s race in 2026,” Walters said of the lawmaker. “My focus is kids in the state of Oklahoma. I’m not worried about a future election.”
The classroom Bible brouhaha is sure to get Walters headlines but possibly much more.
In March, Trump unveiled the Bible with Greenwood with a big publicity splash. Since then, additional versions have been offered, including a “The Day God Intervened” edition with an embossed leather cover noting the date of the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania; and a $1,000 “Signature Edition” advertised as signed by Trump.
In late June, Walters issued a directiverequiring classroom teachers in grades 5 through 12 to use the Bible as a “foundational” text for “instructional support.”
“This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country,” he wrote then.
Walters told Fox News in September he had allocated $3 million to buy classroom Bibles and was asking the state legislature to give the department another $3 million for that as well.
The bidding specs were issued in late August but gained notice online only in recent days.
The criteria for evaluating bids includes lead time for delivery, specifying 55,000 Bibles must be delivered within two weeks of the contract award date. It also specifies the Bible version (King James) and that it includes the texts of the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It also has to be bound in “leather or leather-like material.”
The “God Bless the USA” Bible is the King James version and has all four of the extra documents. On the website where it can be purchased, both the regular edition and the “Day God Intervened” edition appear to be bound in leather, with the only difference being the embossing on the cover.
Having been in print since March, it would also likely be available in quantity. Bids are due by Oct. 14.
Dan Isett, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education, said Friday that the procurement process was normal.
“Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent [request for proposal] process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms,” Isett said in an email to HuffPost.
“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.”
Aside from the propriety of the bidding process, Walters’ decision to push the Bible into classrooms has drawn criticism from civil liberties groups.
A coalition of them, including the state and national American Civil Liberties Union groups, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, filed an Open Records Act request for information about existing or planned purchase of Bibles.
“Oklahoma taxpayers should not be forced to bankroll Superintendent Walters’s Christian Nationalist agenda,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“His latest scheme ― to mandate use of the Bible in Oklahoma public school curriculum ― is a transparent, unlawful effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students. Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools.”
