Group wants Walters to resign
In the wake of a controversy over prayers led over the intercom at Prague Elementary School, the Freedom From Religion Foundation called Wednesday for the resignation of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. The group said it “will not back down in the face of your grandstanding” after Walters criticized the organization for objecting to the school prayers.
“Your disregard for your constitutional duties and your flagrant political posturing are a disgrace to your office, and we once again renew our call for you to resign immediately,” the foundation said in the letter, signed by its copresidents, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Walters responded through a statement issued by an Oklahoma State Department of Education spokesman.
“I hope every Oklahoman prays that this radical, out of state, Soros-funded group learns about our Constitution and the rights it guarantees,” Walters said. The statement also included a link to a PragerU video entitled, “What Does Separation of Church and State Mean?” PragerU is a conservative nonprofit organization that produces videos for schoolchildren meant to counter what it calls “the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.”
Chris Line, an attorney for the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, contacted Prague Superintendent Kevin Engle this month after receiving a report from an anonymous community member in Prague that the school had hosted daily prayers during its morning “Rise and Shine” segment. The foundation also said the district's Facebook page regularly posted photos and names of young students who “asked if they could pray.” Both actions, the foundation said, were unconstitutional.
On Nov. 17, the Prague school district's attorney, Justin Cliburn, responded to Line's letter.
“Your letter addressed Prague Elementary School students' beginning the school day by praying for the school over the school's public address system and the District's subsequent social media posts identifying the students by name and image,” Cliburn said. “The District agrees that the posts and prayer are inappropriate for a public school district. It will ensure neither occurs in the future and will delete any District social media posts referencing the same.”
In spite of the Prague district's response and agreement to stop the prayer, Walters weighed in with a video posted on social media.
“Today, we see Prague Public Schools backing down to a radical atheist group,” Walters said. “You know, we're going to continue to fight for religious liberty and religious freedom here in the state of Oklahoma. What we've seen is a group that's funded by George Soros, atheists, that is
from out of state, that has come in and targeted children that are initiating prayer in Prague Public Schools. Just as bad, we have Prague Public Schools bowing down to these bullies and telling their students that they’re not going to allow them to initiate prayer.
“It’s outrageous. We have to take a stand for our students’ freedom of religion, their freedom to express their religious beliefs, no matter what those religious beliefs may be. So what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to tell groups like the Freedom From Religion group, like the (American Civil Liberties Union), we will never back down to your bullying antics. We will not allow atheism to be the statesponsored religion of our school system, not here in Oklahoma. You guys need to leave our kids alone. We will not stand for it and we will continue to fight for religious liberty here in the state of Oklahoma.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation said in its open letter to Walters that Soros, a wealthy investor and philanthropist who supports liberal and progressive causes, does not fund the foundation.
It also accused Walters of the “(mis)use of your office to undermine Oklahoma’s secular educational system and otherwise impose your personal, pernicious Christian nationalist viewpoint on Oklahoma’s citizens.”
Citing numerous letters the foundation said it has sent to Walters, it said the superintendent has shown himself to be “uneducable. You appear to consider that the purpose of your office is not to help secular public education, but to destroy it.” It also said Walters uses “official governmental social media afforded to your public office” and that he treats his position “as a pulpit from which to preach your personal religious views and Christian nationalist propaganda.”
The foundation praised the action of the Prague district in ending the prayers over the elementary-school intercom and said Walters should not interfere or target school districts “that do the right thing and end such constitutional violations.”