Several Oklahoma school leaders have reportedly signaled their opposition to the state’s top education official over a mandate to include the Bible in classroom instruction sent out last month.
While several school leaders have said they are opposed to the mandate or will not implement it and instead rely on previous state standards, school districts have been hesitant to offer official positions.
Several outlets in the state have reported backlash to Walters’ mandate from late last month requiring schools to teach students about the Bible in grades 5-12. The requirement, as Chalkboard previously reported, was also met with criticism from lawmakers.
The Norman Transcript reported earlier this month that superintendent of Norman Public Schools, Nick Migliorino, said that the district in Norman, Oklahoma would not be complying with Walter’s mandate.
The school system would not provide additional comments to Chalkboard News concerning the district’s position and pointed to Migliorino as the source of the comments.
“Norman Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Nick Migliorino shared comments on this in The Norman Transcript earlier this month,” a spokesperson told Chalkboard. “We don’t have anything else to add right now.”
The Sand Springs Leader reported this week that more districts are waiting to see what happens instead of flatly refusing to comply with Walters’ order. One of those districts is Sand Springs Public Schools, which told Chalkboard that it is not taking action.
“The district is still awaiting guidance from the state on this matter, so we do not have additional information at this time,” a Sand Springs spokesperson told Chalkboard in a statement. “We will continue to provide a high-quality education to all students by adhering to state standards.”
The Oklahoman reported last week that the two other school districts, Bixby Public Schools outside Tulsa and Moore Public Schools outside Oklahoma City, signaled they would not change their curriculum.
The superintendent of Bixby Public Schools wrote in a letter last week responding to the mandate that it would not teach religious ideologies.
“In summary, the district agrees with Mr. Walters on the importance of studying the role of religion in historical and cultural contexts,” Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller wrote in an update. “However, we also maintain that teaching any specific religious doctrine or ideology is not part of the current state standards.”
“Therefore, we affirm our decision to keep our current BPS curriculum unchanged, providing continuity and stability for our students and staff,” Miller wrote.
Superintendent Walters told The Norman Transcript that schools will be forced to comply.
“Oklahoma students will be taught history and that includes the influence of the Bible as a founding document,” Walters told the newspaper last week. “Any school violating the standards will have swift action taken to get them back on track.”
“Several Oklahoma school districts have shown more concern about keeping porn in schools rather than teaching actual history,” Walters continued, according to The Norman Transcript. “They may not like it, but they will do it.”
Originally published by Chalkboard News. Republished with permission.
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