By Michael Woyton
Remember the state schools superintendent in Oklahoma who put out a request for proposals for 55,000 Bibles to be supplied to classrooms?
The RFP was so excellently crafted that the specs would apply only to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” that convicted felon and adjudicated rapist president-elect Donald Trump is hawking online for 60 bucks.
Recently state Superintendent Ryan Walters — of Trump Bible RFP fame — issued a directive for a video he recorded praying for Donald Trump to played in all Oklahoma classrooms, according to reporting from KFOR.
Now the nonprofit Defense of Democracy, which believes that public education is a cornerstone of democracy, has come up with forms that can be used by parents who don’t wish their child to have any interaction with Walters.
Karen Svoboda, the executive director of Defense of Democracy, told KFOR that many parents and administrators in the Oklahoma public schools don’t agree with the mandated prayer video.
“We have seen a flood of interest from the state of Oklahoma, specifically from parents who are panicked, who are devastated that Ryan Walters is requiring this and so relieved that there is at least an option that they can use to protect their kids,” she said.
There are two forms: one targeting Walters’ prayer video and another about using the Bible in classroom instruction.
Both forms have places for parents to put the school principal’s name and address, the student’s name and the parents’ contact information.
The form letter about the prayer video states, “In an attempt to indoctrinate Oklahoma students and promote his own public image, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has encouraged students to join him in prayer. I am concerned and distressed that this violation of first amendment rights might be visited on my child.”
The letter opts out the student by name “of any interaction with State Superintendent Ryan Walters in any capacity” and withholds permission “for my child to view any video or audio recording of Mr. Walters.”
Likewise, the letter about the Bible opts the child out of “any participation in, any class, lesson, instruction, curriculum assembly, guest speaker, activity, assignment, library material, online material, club, or group, that is teaching, quoting, requiring reading, or otherwise extracting content from The Bible.”
Both letters say that, if they are not honored, any and all legal remedies will be pursued.
The form letters can be found and downloaded here.
Defense of Democracy officials told KFOR that they believe the forms will help schools that are wanting to push back on the directives.
Erica Watkins, state director for the organization, said that superintendents or board directors can use the letters to help them make their case to not show the video.
“It’s this 240 parents that we got this email about that don’t want their kinds to show it,” she said to KFOR.
The Oklahoma attorney general weighed in on the issue, saying Walters had no authority under state law to issue the prayer viewing mandate, CBS News reported.
A spokesperson for the AG said the mandate was unenforceable and contrary to parental rights and local control.
It pays to keep in mind that resistance can start small but the effects are cumulative.
Lead art: Screen grab from CNN.
On Second Thought 