In a victory for religious freedom, church-state separation, public education, and government transparency, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in December that former Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) unlawfully approved new K-12 social studies standards that promote Christianity to public school students. The decision came in the lawsuit Rev. Dr. Mitch Randall v. Lindel Fields, which was filed by AU and allies in July of 2025 on behalf of 33 Oklahoma parents, children, public school teachers, and faith leaders.
The court ruled that the social studies standards were adopted in a manner that violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. Walters made last-minute changes to the standards without notifying the public or providing sufficient notice to the other members of the OSBE. The court declared the social studies standards invalid, and reinstated the prior version of the standards, which were enacted in 2019 and did not promote religion.
The court’s decision invalidates the new standards, which are replete with several dozen references to the Bible and Christianity while containing few mentions of other faiths; inaccurately present Bible stories as literal, historical facts; inaccurately proclaim the Bible’s and Christianity’s influence on the founding of America and the country’s laws; and require other inaccurate teachings, including presenting disproven contentions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election and conveying as unquestioned truth the controversial theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory.
“Today’s decision will ensure that Oklahoma families —not politicians — get to decide how and when their children engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “These new social studies standards violated students’ and families’ religious freedom by promoting one version of Christianity and advancing Christian Nationalist disinformation. Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools.”