Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters asked students in the state to watch a video of him praying for the country, schools and especially President-elect Donald Trump. Waters is also one of Trump’s hopes for being elected as education secretary in the cabinet.
Waters said in an email to Oklahoma public school superintendents last week that Oklahoma schools will require the video to be shown to “all children enrolled” in their districts and to their parents.
“This country is in a dangerous time,” Waters wrote in the email, which contained multiple grammatical errors. “Students [sic] Rights and freedoms regarding religious freedom are continually violated.
He went on to say that the new office of the state Department of Education “will work hard to thwart any attempts to undermine the learning of our Oklahoma students.” [sic] Basic freedoms.
Waters ordered the district superintendent to show the video to “all children enrolled in school” and to “send the video to all parents.”
The video quickly circulated on social media after it was posted to the Oklahoma Department of Education’s official YouTube channel.
The video is titled “Supt.” Waters’ announcement on the Department of Religious Liberty and Patriotism” begins with Waters sitting at his desk in his office facing the camera.
Waters had a cup on the table next to him.
Emblazoned on the cup is the Latin phrase “si vispacem parabellum,” which translates to “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
In the video, Waters announced the creation of a new office in the state called the “Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism.”
“We’ve also seen patriotism mocked and woke teachers unions fanning hatred for this country. We will not tolerate that in any Oklahoma school. We want our students to be patriotic. We want our students to love their country. This country. We want the religious freedom of all students to be protected. I’m going to pray now, and to be clear, students, you don’t have to participate, but I will continue to pray if you want,” Waters said before beginning the prayer. said, referring specifically to the president-elect.
“Dear God, thank you for all the blessings you have given our country. I pray that our leaders make the right decisions. I pray especially for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring change to the country.
He continued: “I pray for our parents, teachers and children that they will receive the best education and live a high quality of life. I also pray that we continue to teach our young people a love of country and pray Our students understand what makes America great. They continue to love this country.
After the video was released, several school districts in Oklahoma came forward to say they had no intention of showing the video. Oklahoma reported.
Mid-Del Public Schools Superintendent Rick Cobb told News 4 he couldn’t believe it when he received Waters’ email Thursday.
“Yesterday I was in a meeting with two of my leadership teams, and as the meeting came in I said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m going to read this to you,'” Cobb said. “We then viewed the video and immediately decided not to send it to our students and parents.”
“When we receive a communication from the state Department of Education asking you to share this content, and there is no legal requirement for us to do so, we have to evaluate whether sharing is actually appropriate,” Cobb said. “It has no teaching value. It has nothing to do with The message we were trying to get out to our employees was irrelevant. We just decided it wasn’t something we needed to expose to everyone.
The state’s Republican attorney general’s office also issued an opinion, saying Waters could not force schools to show the video.
“State school principals do not have the legal authority to require all students to watch a specific video,” Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, told the newspaper.
“Not only is this ordinance unenforceable, it violates parental rights, local control and the free exercise of personal rights.”
Tim Gilpin, a Tulsa attorney and former Oklahoma assistant attorney general, told News 4 that Waters had “no practical reason” to ask for the video of the prayer to be played.
Gilpin said if the school showed the video to students under Waters’ direction, they could face legal problems.
“This raises a lot of legal issues [Walters] By doing this, it would be even better if the district showed it to students,” Gilpin said. “This is indoctrination. This is a state official imposing their political and religious beliefs on the rest of us… I suspect if this video was played in a classroom and students and their parents were upset about it, they might A lawsuit was filed against Mr. Waters, as well as the school district.
So why did Waters do this? News 4 previously reported that Waters’ name has been floated to serve as U.S. secretary of education during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
“It seems [Walters] Tulsa state Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a parent and former middle school principal at Tulsa Public Schools, said Trump’s focus will be even more powerful now that he is president-elect. And getting his attention could be beneficial to Mr. Waters.
“I have to wonder if his heart is in it,” she said. “It’s almost comical and it seems like he’s really trying to get attention. [President-elect Trump]”.
Hours before Waters’ announcement, the Oklahoma Department of Education, the agency he oversees, issued a press release in which Waters said that special efforts have been made for Oklahoma public schools. It was the Advanced Placement Government Classroom that purchased more than 500 Bibles.
“We are committed to ensuring that Bibles are available in every classroom in our state as quickly as possible,” Waters said.
“I will take every step possible to ensure Oklahoma students have the resources they need to fully understand American history. Through actions now, Oklahoma State is providing our students with important history, cultural and literary context, leading the nation on a path toward greater emphasis on academic excellence. We will not change our history, of which the Bible is an important part.
The Bible purchased by the government appears to be the same version endorsed by Donald Trump – the God Bless America Bible, which includes the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance. This is also colloquially known as the “Trump Bible.”
Back in June, Waters notified all state schools in Oklahoma to “immediately” incorporate the Bible into classroom curricula, prompting immediate outrage and threats of lawsuits.
This latest purchase is different from a previous request for proposals for 55,000 Bibles issued by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Republicans and Democrats at the state Capitol rejected the initial request, which would have cost $6 million.
Waters and Dan Isett, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, told The Oklahoman that the “initial purchase” order for 500 Bibles, valued at $25,000, was placed last week. Dollar. He said the Bible “will arrive in the next few weeks.”
Isett did not respond to questions about where the Bibles are funded or when the department will get approval from the Legislature to spend money to purchase the Bibles.
State Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), the outgoing chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee, did address the latter question, saying that to his knowledge, the approval never happened.
“I’m the person responsible for the order project [for the state education budget] McBride told The Oklahoman there was no Bible.
“We never talked about the Bible. The Bible was never discussed in education [funding)] bill. Not at all. Never mentioned it. It was never in their original proposal. It’s just not there.
“I still think back, where does the money come from? There is no money allocated to buy Bibles. I don’t know what’s wrong with me buying 500 Bibles… but where do you get the money? I just wish we could focus on reading, writing and arithmetic.
State Rep. Peay said Waters’ initiative violates the separation of church and state.
“My main problem with the Bible purchase initiative is that it violates the separation of church and state and sets a precedent for us to open Pandora’s box,” he said.
Waters said he is fully committed to his job as state superintendent and working with schools and their families.
The state Supreme Court ruled last spring that each school district has its own authority to choose the content used in its curriculum to meet state education standards.
That means the school doesn’t need to use the Bibles purchased by Waters. There is no word yet on when Oklahoma schools will receive the Bibles.
