Oklahoma’s school chief required Bibles in class and one seemed to meet the criteria – endorsed by Trump

Over the summer, Oklahoma ordered its public schools to begin teaching the Bible in every classroom. Now the state is being criticized for seeking to buy potentially millions of dollars worth of Bibles, with requirements that only seem to match Bibles endorsed by members of theTrump family.

As The Oklahoman reports, a request for proposals for selling 55,000 Bibles to the state issued on Monday specifies that the Bibles must be the King James version, feature the Old and New Testaments, and include American political documents like the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

Only a few commonly available Bibles fit the bill, according to the paper: the $60 God Bless the USA Bible, endorsed by Donald Trump, and the $90 We The People Bible, endorsed by Donald Trump, Jr.

Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews told the paper the plan seems designed to curry favor with the Trumps. Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters, the architect of the Bible initiative, has endorsed the Republican for president.

“For (Walters) to craft this RFP, to specifically identify this Bible, this document that the state taxpayers would spend money on, either is a dereliction of duty, a dereliction of stewardship or maybe it is a … signal to former President Trump: ‘Hey, hey, I’m on your team, sir,’” Andrews told The Oklahoman.

Walters office denied any political motives behind the request for proposals.

“Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent RFP process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms,” Oklahoma Department of Education spokesperson Dan Isett told The Independent via email. “There are hundreds of