Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has said he will “absolutely” penalize schools that refuse to follow his order to show students a video of him praying for President-elect Donald Trump. At least eight school districts have refused to follow his order and the state’s Republican attorney general called Walters’s order “unenforceable.”

“Rogue superintendents that have been pushing books like Gender Queer and Flamer on kids,” Walters told the right-wing media outlet Real America’s Voice on Wednesday, naming two LGBTQ+-inclusive books that right-wing activists repeatedly include on book ban lists. “So they want to include pornography, but they don’t want to include the Bible and they don’t want to allow a prayer, we’re not going to tolerate it here in the state of Oklahoma,” he added. 

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At least eight school districts, including some of the state’s largest, have refused to show Walters’ prayer. In the video, Walters blames the “radical left” for attacking religious liberty in schools, discusses the goals of his new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism and prays for the former and future president.

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In a message to parents, Edmond School District Superintendent Angela Grunewald wrote, “Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously ruled that we have the authority to make these decisions at the local level and we will continue to do so.”

A spokesperson for Walter’s office, Dan Isett, didn’t answer The Journal Records‘ inquiry about Walters’ authority to issue such an order nor what penalty schools would face for ignoring his order. “Supt. Walters is ending the ongoing attacks on President Donald Trump and his agenda to get prayer back in schools,” Isett replied.

Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Scott Pruitt said in a statement, “There is no statutory authority for the state schools superintendent to require all students to watch a specific video. Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents’ rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights.”

State Sen. Mark Mann (D), a former Education Department official, advised schools not to comply with Walters’ order, saying that Walter’s department lacks the legal authority to make such an order.

This isn’t the first time schools have defied Walters’ attempt to insert religion into public schools. In autumn, Walters mandated that public schools teach about the Bible and provide a copy of the text and The 10 Commandments in all classrooms. At least 46 school districts across the state said they wouldn’t comply.

Most of the schools cited Oklahoma law, which grants school districts discretion over instructional materials. Others cited concerns that spending funds on religious material may violate state law, while some simply said they didn’t have the funds to purchase Bibles for every classroom.

Earlier this year, Walters’ office spent just under $25,000 to purchase 532 copies of the God Bless the USA Bible — which contains a copy of the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence and were advertised by Trump — spending nearly $47 on each one. Standard bibles run between $3 and $17 on Amazon, and Bibles can be custom-printed to include the aforementioned government documents at costs far less than $47 each.

Walters has said he’s willing to spend up to $6 million in taxpayer funds to provide Bibles to statewide classrooms. 

Walters, who wants to ban LGBTQ+ books but teach the Bible in public school history classes, has previously pushed the transphobic lie about schools providing litterboxes to students who identify as cats. He also referred to teachers’ unions as “terrorist organizations” and illegally tried to make rules banning LGBTQ+ books and transgender bathroom access in schools.

He has appeared at events hosted by Moms for Liberty, a right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ “parent’s rights” group that has been called an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He appointed Christian Nationalists to help re-write the state’s social studies curriculum. He also appointed Chaya Raichik, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist who goes by Libs of Tik Tok online, as a Library Media Advisor for the state (even though she has no educational experience, doesn’t reside in Oklahoma, and has made posts that have led to bomb threats against students).

Following the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict in February, Walters’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies came under intense scrutiny, with many allies and advocates accusing him of fostering the environment of hostility toward LGBTQ+ students that contributed to the trans teen’s tragic death. The Human Rights Campaign and over 350 LGBTQ+ rights organizations, civil rights groups, and leaders sent an open letter to the Oklahoma state legislature demanding Walters be removed from office.

More recently, 21 Oklahoma Republican lawmakers have called for an impeachment investigation into Walters’ handling of the Education Department.

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