OKLAHOMA CITY – A new office within the Oklahoma State Department of Education will promote expressions of religion and patriotism in public schools.

The head of the agency, state Superintendent Ryan Walters, announced Tuesday that he has created the Office of Religious Freedom and Patriotism. He said the new division will align with incoming President Donald Trump’s goal to protect prayer in schools.

The office will investigate alleged abuses against religious freedom and patriotic expressions, according to a press release from the Ministry of Education.

Walters cited an incident from September 2023 in which a The Skiatook School has removed Bible verses from a classroom at the urging of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claimed it was unconstitutional for a public school to allow religious displays. Walters said at the time that the removal was “unacceptable.”

The The US Supreme Court has ruled that public school students and employees may pray on school grounds, but school employees may not lead students in prayer or other religious activities while doing their job. The Court ruled against school-led prayer in 1962 in public schools and finds it a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on government-established religion.

Walters said public schools have been “ground zero” for the erosion of religious freedom. While he called the separation of church and state a “myth.” commissioned Oklahoma districts to teach from the Biblewas looking for Buying Bibles with taxpayer money and advocated opening one Catholic charter school in the state.

“It is no coincidence that the dismantling of faith and family values ​​in public schools is directly linked to declining academic achievement in our public schools,” Walters said in a statement Tuesday. “In Oklahoma, we are reversing this negative trend and, working with the new Trump administration, will aggressively pursue education policies that will improve academic outcomes and give our children a brighter future.”

A group of 32 parents, students, teachers and faith leaders from Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit to block Walters’ Bible teaching mandate and to stop the use of state funds to purchase Bibles. The plaintiffs are represented by multiple national legal groups, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Superintendent Ryan Walters should not be allowed to use the state apparatus to indoctrinate Oklahoma students into his religion,” foundation co-chair Annie Laurie Gaylor said last month. “Fortunately, Oklahoma law protects families and taxpayers from his unconstitutional plan to force public schools to adopt his favorite holy book.”

Since the Nov. 5 election, Walters has worked within the state Department of Education to pave the way for major policy changes from the next Trump administration, including the possible closure of the U.S. Department of Education. Trump has proposed abolishing the federal agency and sending education funds to states in block grants.

Among other policy goals, Trump has advocated for more patriotic education and giving parents a greater role in the public school system, including in hiring and firing principals.

Walters said Monday he is convening an advisory committee of Oklahoma education leaders and policymakers to implement Trump’s education agenda.

The state superintendent has similarly supported pro-American education and patriotic displays. He invited right-wing policy advocates and conservative media personalities, most of whom live out of state, to help rewrite Oklahoma’s academic standards for social studies.

In August, Walters issued guidelines directing all districts to develop a policy for displaying the American flag. He did this while criticizing Edmond Public Schools, which asked a high school student to remove an American flag from his truck.

The Edmond district did this because it had an existing policy that prohibits students from bringing flags of any kind to school. The district will hang the American flag in front of every school and in every classroom, the statement said.

Walters quickly addressed Edmond, saying, “No school in Oklahoma should tell students not to wave the American flag.”