Ryan Walters sent a letter on Thursday to all school districts in the state, requiring them to comply immediately with this change. "The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system," the state superintendent said during the State Board of Education regular meeting last week.
In an interview with AFN, Walters said the state is proud to be the first in the U.S. to require a Bible in every classroom and that it be taught in every classroom.
"What we have seen is the Bible and the faith of our founders has been driven out of our schools, driven out of our history – and the radical Left has censored our history and tried to rewrite it," he explained.
The state education head said history is history, and facts are facts.
"The reality is our kids need to understand the Bible's influence on our founders, the Bible's influence throughout our history," he argued. "We have individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr. who even in the 1950s and 60s was referencing it to the Civil Rights Movement. If you look at [MLK's] Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he is talking about Bible stories."
It's important, says Walters, that public school students understand America's founding, the faith of the founders, and the role that Christianity played in the nation's history. "We are going to continue to do that to make sure that our kids have the accurate view of American history," he adds.
And as for critics who accuse the move as government endorsing religion?
"History is history," Walters responds. "The Bible is the number-one bestselling book in American history. It was referenced time and time again throughout our country's [history] and in some of the most monumental pieces of legislation."
The head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State has described Walters' decision as "textbook Christian Nationalism."
