The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office responded after the state superintendent of education sent an email to public school administrators this week asking them to turn over their data on students. video announcement A new department of religious freedom and patriotism. In the video he prays for newly elected President Trump.
Ryan Walters, a Republican, announced The new office sent an email to school superintendents across the state on Wednesday and Thursday. The new department will be within the state education department. Walters said it would “oversee investigations into abuses of individual religious freedom or displays of patriotism.”
“In one of the first steps of the newly created department, we are asking all schools in Oklahoma to play the accompanying video for all children enrolled,” according to the email. Districts were also asked to send the video to parents of all students.
In the video, Walters says that religious freedom has been attacked and patriotism has been mocked “by woke teachers unions,” then after saying that students do not have to engage in prayer, leaders of the United States Let's pray for.
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“In particular, I pray for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring change to the country,” Walters said.
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond's office issued a statement Friday saying Walters had no authority under state law to issue such an order.
Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, said, “Not only is this order unenforceable, but it is contrary to parental rights, local control, and individual free-exercise rights.”
Several school districts have also said they have no plans to show the videos to students.
Walters, a former public school teacher elected in 2022, ran on a fighting platform”awakened ideology, Banning books from school libraries And getting rid of the “radical leftists” whom they claim are indoctrinating children into classrooms. He is already facing two lawsuits over the order given in June for schools Incorporate the Bible into lesson plans For students of class 5 to 12. Many school districts have previously said they would defy the mandate.
One of the lawsuits also says that the initial request for proposal issued by the state Department of Education to purchase Bibles appears to have been Milan Bible Endorsed So far newly elected president donald trump Which sell for $59.99 each.
Earlier this week, Walters announced that he had purchased more than 500 Bibles for use in Advanced Placement government classes. The Education Department says the 500 Bibles are “God Bless the USA Bibles” and were ordered Thursday for about $25,000. They will arrive “in the coming weeks,” the department said.