By Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch
A plan to buy 55,000 Bibles for Oklahoma classrooms has been modified to be less specific and allow multiple vendors to supply the religious text and U.S. historical documents wanted by Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
The State Department of Education said Tuesday it worked with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to modify the bid requirements. It also extended the deadline for responses by a week to Oct. 21.
Oklahoma Watch reported last week on the original request for proposal, which had specific requirements that appeared to point to one Bible: The Lee Greenwood God Bless the U.S.A. Bible. That version has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Another, more expensive Bible could also qualify, the We The People Bible. That one is endorsed by Donald Trump Jr.
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services said the state had an existing statewide contract for book purchases, with several vendors prequalified. A statewide contract allows agencies to pick from those prequalified vendors without having to go through a sometimes burdensome and time-consuming request for proposal process.
At least one of the vendors on the statewide contract for books, Complete Book and Media Supply LLC, offers multiple versions of leather-bound Bibles and sells U.S. historical documents, according to its website. A company representative said it could not comment on the Bible solicitation process in Oklahoma but confirmed it has no plans to bid.
Other vendors prequalified for the statewide contract for books include Barnes & Noble Inc., Emery-Pratt Co. and Follett School Solutions Inc.
The original request for proposal sought responses in two weeks, a quicker turnaround than most new requests for proposals. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services said those timelines are based on the complexity or materials within the request. Once awarded, the plan calls for shipping to school districts within two weeks.
“Agencies are able to issue their own RFPs if they indicate their needs are not met through statewide contract,” Christa Helfrey, a spokeswoman for OMES, said in an email Tuesday. “To maintain the integrity of the RFP process, we won’t comment further on active solicitations.”
Education Department officials said the updated request for proposal allows for copies of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance to be bound with the Bible or separately. It also adds price as an evaluation criterion and specifies that the historical documents should be bound in durable material if they are apart from the Bible.
“OSDE is committed to a fair and transparent competition that protects the integrity of the purchasing process and appreciates the guidance from OMES throughout this undertaking,” the department said in a press release.
Walters, who criticized media coverage of his agency’s Bible request for proposal, said there were “numerous Bible vendors in this country that have the capacity to fulfill this request.”
Walters’ spokesman, Dan Isett, said he couldn’t respond to a question asking for examples of those vendors. He also couldn’t answer questions about why price wasn’t a part of the original solicitation or if the agency knew there was already a statewide contract for book purchases with prequalified vendors.
“As this is an open and ongoing RFP, it would be inappropriate for me to comment beyond what was mentioned in our release this morning,” Isett said in an email.
Walters said Tuesday several state employees were involved in determining the best vendor and that he would have no involvement in that part of the process.
“My number one goal is to ensure that our classrooms have copies of the Bible so that it can be utilized as an appropriate tool to properly and accurately teach Oklahoma students of its important influence in the history of our country and its secular value,” Walters said in a press release.
Isett told Oklahoma Watch last week the money for the Bibles would come from personnel savings. The department has seen the departure of more than 130 employees since Walters took office in January 2023, according to The Oklahoman.
On Friday, Republican Rep. Mark McBride asked the attorney general’s office to issue a formal opinion on whether the Education Department can reallocate funds from salaries for another purpose. He also asked if the Secretary of Education had to approve agency expenditures in excess of $25,000.
Since Walters announced his Bible plan in June, several superintendents have said they don’t plan to add the Bible to their curriculum. They also said religious and historical documents are freely available online, and the state doesn’t need to spend money on new Bibles and historical documents for classroom use.
Other Bibles that include sections on U.S. history are available, such as the American Patriots Bible (a New King James Version) and the Founders Bible (a New American Standard Bible translation). Trump endorsed the Lee Greenwood God Bless the U.S.A. Bible in March and has received at least $300,000 in royalties from book sales so far, according to financial disclosure statements filed in August.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
