Top Oklahoma educator says teachers who won't teach Bible could lose license 

“We are suffering a severe teacher shortage. Lets make a way to get rid of the rest.”

These are the same people that scream about GROOMING !!!

If you were wondering Oklahoma is ranked 49th out of 50th for education.

The bible is not based on American history. Holy crap on a stick. This is ridiculous.

Who told this fool that a Bible is an American history book?

Requiring teaching the Bible in public schools is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

thats BS, because it violates the teacher's own personal rights to freedom of religion - it can't be enforced.

I love the part of the Bible that taught me about fractions and that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell.

Next come the witch trials

Well then get ready to also require teaching the Quran, The Book of Mormon, whatever “book” Scientology runs on… There’s a reason the 1st Amendment includes freedom of religion - It’s also freedom FROM any religion being promoted by the government. And for good reason.

Oklahoman here... Ryan Walters NEEDS to be removed from his position. This BS is abhorrent. Threatening teachers to fire them if they don't VIOLATE others religious freedoms. SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. RELIGION DOESNT BELONG IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THIS MAN NEEDS TO BE REMOVED 😡

Teachers are there to educate, not preach.

oh but giving them all raises and paying for their school supplies in the classroom is too much of a hassle. GOP’s priorities are a flop.

And Americans call Muslims fanatical.

How about you bus those kids on over to the reservation and have native people teach them the REAL history of American 😡. Before Oklahoma was a state it was Indian territory. That was where they put everyone who survived the trail of tears.

This is forced conversion.

Clearly what they're missing in school is civics lessons.😵

This is insane..! You can't fire teachers for refusing to do something Unconstitutional.. there are REASONS for separation church and state !! The Governor is risking Sanction and Removal

"You don't change history because of your feeling." Says the same group of people trying to stop all forms of crt because it "makes some students feel bad"

I'm sure the kids will be thrilled to learn about treating cancer and appendicitis through prayer...

This is going to cost one of the poorest states millions of dollars in court that it can not afford

So he is basically saying every teacher in the state has to convert to Christianity or they are fired

A high school graduate schooled in dogma and doctrine, completely lacking critical thinking skills...with a sidearm...is a menace to society.

The Bible where Jesus rode a dinosaur is likely their preferred Bible.

"An accurate view of American history"? 😂😂There's not a single word of American history in any version of the Bible. This insanity needs to stop.

The Bible isn't even American history! It comes from a completely different continent! Also it has been translated into many different versions and they all have there own way of saying things. It should be taught as part of a world religion class where all the world religions are taught. This breaks the separation of church and state. This is being forced on both teachers and students that are non Christians. We really need to learn about the other religions and not just Christianity. The United States is a melting pot of different cultures, if we were all the same it would be boring.

Oklahoma schools rank 49th out of 50 states, I don't think a bible is what they need.

He is not an educator. Don't call him that. He is a bureaucrat. And not a good one.

The arrogance of the religious is staggering!

This will push children farther away from religion .

I can't wait for the first lawsuit from a fired teacher (or teacherS) to come along. This is going to get messy.

I grew up in Oklahoma, and left as fast as I could. Sometimes, I feel lucky that I made it out alive, and with my common sense intact.

How does the bible have anything to do with history? Do real historians actually study it for history? This is just ridiculous.

Public schools are not religious schools, their teachers and students are not all Christians.

Oklahoma needs to tell Ryan Walters that he will need to pay for any lawsuits that may arise. The taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for his publicity stunt.

Normally, I'd worry about the bible being brought into a class. But, this is Oklahoma. 90% of the students wouldn't be able to read the actual text anyway.

I’d sue the state and the district if I lost my license because I refused to teach the Bible. There is a separation of church and state for reason.

I feel like we've regressed back to the early 18th century. Note to self: Don't visit Oklahoma.

It's not shocking that Oklahoma is in the bottom 5 in education and teacher pay. So good luck finding teachers

Can my state have their federal funding?

I am a Christian and an Oklahoman and I think the Bible should be taught at home or in church. This is going to cause kids to ignore or hate the Bible. Teach them to read and write and to excel.

No to bibles or 10 commandments in schools

This is what happens when professional licensing turns political. Nothing says fascist like this.

Geez, these people. Why can’t they be happy in their own lives and leave everybody else alone?

No way this can be legal. I’m conservative, but I’m not religious. You can’t use public schools to teach religion. Just like that 10 commandments thing in Louisiana, that’s not legal either.

Republicans getting too extreme. We're not gonna have our schools be like Middle East countries where we're forced to learn about religion. This is why our founding fathers made the separation between church and state. This is gonna result in a big lawsuit.

I'd be happy to teach the bible and show the kids how unhinged it is 😂

That’s unconstitutional. He also doesn’t have the authority to rescind the licenses of teachers who don’t comply with breaking the law.

Is there some competition to see who can violate separation of church and state the most?

Watch more teachers leave Oklahoma. He’s setting these kids up for failure. Wait until they try to get into colleges outside the state

I live in the same state as man. We having problems with him. He is not very good at his job. He is on the news like every other week for doing something not so good.

Which bible?

It’s an EXTREMELY weak argument. It’s unconstitutional to require teaching SUBSTANCE of religion within public schools, and that is something even our current Supreme Court will stand by.

“The Federal Government is HAMAS.” - Governor of Oklahoma

This is insane. Religion needs to be kept out of schools. 1st Amendment.

Wow, wow, wow…..if you want the Bible in the schools then go to a private religious school. He can’t get away with this….

I thought Oklahoma was suppose to be the home of Native Americans and that decision was horrible wrong of force removal of people off their lands. Then the boarding school that were established of force assimilation. They don't teach that in Oklahoma schools but the Bible should teach these adults to be honest about history. You would think that when he states at 1:15 in the interview.

The different denominations of Christianity interpret the bible differently; I would think this would be just as concerning even for Christian parents. The way the students get taught these lessons in class might conflict with what they’re taught at church.

THATS BULL.EVERY CHILD DONT HAVE THE SAME RELIGION

This is public school not Sunday school....

For a public education system that is facing teacher shortages of an unprecedented number, threatening remaining teachers with the loss of their license over a religious mandate seems counterproductive.

Okay then have the teachers read Ezekiel 23:19-29 to 1st graders and see how the parent’s react when they come home to say what they learned in school that day.

We must ask ourselves important questions. I'm sure the superintendent knows that the cost of the lawsuits and legal changes will cause the school district to lose a great deal of money. It makes me wonder if the real goal is to bankrupt the school district to get rid of public schools. Ultimately this superintendent is doing more harm than good by prosletyzing rather than focusing on real teaching by example. The contents of good behavior can be taught ethically without involving any religious text. We all know the constitution requires separation of church and state.

he obviously is insane and needs to be taken out of his position.

There is a lot in the bible that Republicans do not want children learning.

The state mandated forced religious "convert or die" mentality is looming yet again. Apparently history does tend to repeat itself in some form or fashion. Since this is a 'church and state' issue, supposedly under the umbrella of U.S history, I'd suggest reading the history on a similar topic under Thomas Jefferson's presidency, in regards to a 3% tax for the benefit of a state recognized church and see how that turned out. It's a rather interesting historical read.

The people who wrote the Bible didn't even know North America existed.

Oklahoma is # 49 in state educational ranking.

Ryan Walters is a 🤡

Bible study should happen in church. This is horrific.

😊we need more teachers here in New Mexico. They can come here to teach!

Oklahoma is 49th in Education out of 50, and here's the School Superintendent working to get it to 51.

Display the 10 commandments with the Noble 8 fold path, 4 noble truths, the four Puruṣārthas, 5 principles & 10 Disciplines of Hinduism, 5 pillars of islam and so on.

11) Thou shalt not impose your theological beliefs on children at a public school. It's telling that the superintendent slipped and called this "legislation", which it is NOT.

How can that be legal? What about other religions?

I study by Bible every day. Few ministers get it right. You think teachers are gonna do even ok? Not a chance.

Welcome to right wing small government.

Teach the Bible and show all the falsehoods and contradictions of the whole book. Students will develop critical thinking skills as a result

The short answer to this is that they are going to get sued. Imagine taking away someone's livelihood because they don't agree with your religious requirements? The state will not be able to show any legitimate public interest that is being promoted by this rule, while the risk of harm to teachers is greater. Imagine for example, that the state refused a license to a teacher on religious grounds? You would expect they would get sued? And without being able to cite any legitimate public interest in doing so, they would lose.

Separation of church and state. The Bible is not US History. It was made a whole millennium+ ago. What do you not understand about that???

If I were a parent with a student in an Oklahoma public school, I would tell my son or daughter that when the teacher started any lesson about the Bible to get up and turn their chair around facing the back wall and not to participate in any way. If they were sent to the principal's office then they were to tell the principal that they had been instructed to immediately call me and to not answer any questions or make any statements.😮

If they want and accurate view of American history, then they need to allow the teaching of American Black history and what took place. Also American Indian history. But want they want to do has nothing to do with wanting to teach history.

That's separation of church and state your need to go back and read it over and then read it again it was never ever separated from a school to a church

This is absolutely unAmerican.

Here is just one of many, many reasons I have honest concerns about this curriculum mandate of teaching The Bible and the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma schools. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. There are many individuals and leaders of specific Christian denominations and Christian congregations who consider me and all other members of my church to be members of an evil "cult," and they often quote from the Bible to justify their claims. Who's to say that such attacks against my church or any other church that most Christians consider a "cult" won't end up being taught in Oklahoma classrooms? That isn't something that can just be lightly dismissed as trivial. Oklahoma schools have many students who are not members of conservative Christian churches. Will they be made to feel inferior because of this curriculum? Will they end up being shunned by classmates, teachers and even school administrators? Like I said, this is just one of many reasons I worry about this mandate.

I, for one, would rather die free than live in a theocracy. Your god ain't the boss of me, Slick.

If Ryan Walters is so interested in accurately teaching our children why does he allow children here to skip school altogether and get credit if they go to church?!

Superintendents can be fired, you know. 🤔

oklahoma - where brain cells go to die...

I 100% support this and as a teacher my first lesson is gonna be the story of Lot and his daughters. iykyk

Years ago, the saying of the Lord's prayer was mandated in public schools. As we were reciting, out loud it after the pledge of allegiance I recited it as I was taught. The teacher interrupted me saying. We stop after "deliver us from evil". For the remainder that school year I left the class room after the pledge of allegiance, And returned when prayer was over. To the steely gaze of the teacher. There were four Jewish kids in the class. They went through the motions of clasping their hands, and bowing their heads. After what had just, happened in Germany, I guess the felt that to comply was better than making waves.

Doesn't this violate the First Amendment, separation of church and state?

They have the part of Separation of Church and State all wrong. I come from a family that have actually was part of the framers of this entire subject. The meaning behind this separation of church and state is to keep government out of church's practices and protocol of individual Church's business. This eliminates persecution as well. My Great Uncle Rev. Valentine Wightman and Rev. Roger Williams that actually changed the name of Anabaptist to Baptist coming into the Colonies and also Rev. Valentines wife was Rev Roger Williams (founder of Providence RI) Great Granddaughter Susannah Holmes, and her other Grandfather Rev. Obadiah Holmes, (6th Generational Great Grand Father to Abraham Lincoln) were part of the clergies from many churches in the 13 Colonies that actually grouped together and they wrote the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution along with a much needed Separation of Church and State, not exactly worded that way but the meaning remains that way to this day. ( PS: My great grandmother was Mary Wightman and she married Samuel Boone JR. My mother was daughter to Alfred Boone of Geary, Sunbury County, NB Canada. His Great Grandfather was Samuel Boone Jr. whom came from North Kingstown Rhode Island. I learned this about my family tree about 10 years ago.) The words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the U.S. Constitution, but the concept is enshrined in the very first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Known as the establishment clause, the opening lines of the First Amendment prohibit the government from creating an official religion or favoring one religion (or nonreligion) over another. The separation of church and state enables all Americans to practice their deeply held beliefs in private and in public.** www.freedomforum.org/separation-of-church-and-state/ So because there are so many different religions now in this country the public schools are considered Government Run and are classed under a free education by the Government which cannot force the Churches of only just the bible's historical facts as literature or its history. That is supposed to be left up to the Churches that have their own schools for their own parishioners that want to have a deeper education for themselves or their children, outside of what public schools teaching in the free public school system. The purpose is to have freedom of religion without government influence of what is best for the curriculum without perjury. The state of Oklahoma is in violation of the First Amendment. What they are doing doesn't match a student that may be Jewish, Chinese, Muslim, or Atheism (whom don't practice any religious beliefs). What about their Freedoms under the guaranteed right of Freedom of Religion? The Government is better off teaching American history or Ancient History without The bible's eye views.. The Bible can be taught at Sunday School and left up to the doctrines of the church they attend. This can become a lawsuit against what the Governor of Oklahoma is trying to propose against many others belief's through this clause written into the First Amendment of the US Constitution. It now is a civil offence.

Imagine the kids faces when their told two of every animal in the entire world fit on a Ark. with all their food, water and medicine. Along with the people needed to care for them for a month. 😳

Don't force your crap beliefs on others.

Why can't they just put the Bible in the School Library and let the kids decide, or sign them up for Sunday Bible School etc

Texas will teach chemistry from Harry Potter,now, Arkansas will teach ethics from physics glossaries, and FL is ditching books entirely and opting for hands on education at Chick-Fillets 🐈 🎻🐄 🌙

Was he elected or appointed his position? How is the top school superintendent selected?

This is unconstitutional you can't force someone to teach religion it might be against their religious beliefs. This needs to go to the supreme court and the state of Oklahoma needs to be sued.

What part of America did the Bible take place?