With little explanation, the Oklahoma Department of Education canceled its search for a vendor to supply 55,000 Bibles for public school classrooms.
Oklahoma Watch’s reporting on the state’s request for bids attracted widespread attention when the specifications appeared to point to one Bible, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bible, endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 online, with Trump collecting royalties for his endorsement.
Bidders were notified Thursday the state’s solicitation had been canceled. Dan Isett, a spokesman for the Education Department, didn’t explain why.
Isett said he was too busy for a call with Oklahoma Watch. In an email, he said the agency will issue a new request for proposals “to ensure taxpayer money is utilized efficiently and the best possible resources are made available to our students.”
Excessive cost is one of several concerns critics have raised about Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ plan. In September, he said he set aside $3 million to buy Bibles, which came from personnel and administrative cost savings in this year’s budget, according to Isett. A state lawmaker questioned whether Walters is authorized to spend that money and has asked for an attorney general opinion. Walters included an additional $3 million ask in his agency’s budget request for fiscal year 2026.
The department asked vendors to submit bids for 55,000 New King James Version Bibles, bound in leather or leather-like material and include copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Pledge of Allegiance. Shortly after the solicitation opened on Sept. 30, the department amended it to allow multiple vendors to supply the religious text and historical documents.
The solicitation follows Walters’ mandate that a Bible be placed in every Oklahoma public school classroom and that all schools teach from the Bible in certain subjects, such as history or literature. Walters has said that teachers could be stripped of their certification for noncompliance.
The department has not been forthcoming with information about the plan. Oklahoma Watch on Sept. 27 requested, under the Open Records Act, records related to the purchase or intent to purchase Bibles during Walters’ tenure, and the department on Nov. 1 said it failed to turn up any records.
Critics said Walters is using the mandate and Bible contract to get on Trump’s radar.
One bidder, Mark Herkommer, said the state owes bidders an explanation for the abrupt cancellation. Herkommer is the managing director of the Herkommer Foundation in Willis, Texas, which spent time and money, including purchasing a $500 insurance policy, to meet the bidding requirements.
“I would be disappointed if this was a stunt,” Herkommer said.
He said he supports the idea of using Bibles in schools as a literary reference.
His bid, which he asked to keep confidential to protect the competitive process, significantly undercut the $3 million allocation. But Herkommer said the two-week delivery time was unnecessarily restrictive and served to limit competition, and in his bid, asked that it be extended to 12 weeks.
“It’s hard to imagine anybody could do this in two weeks unless they had 55,000 Bibles wrapped in pallets with shipping labels on them sitting in a warehouse somewhere,” Herkommer said.
Reporting by the Associated Press revealed a printing company in China shipped 120,000 “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bibles to the U.S. between February and March of this year, at an estimated cost of $3 per Bible. It’s unknown how many have been sold.
Jennifer Palmer has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since 2016 and covers education. Contact her at (405) 761-0093 or jpalmer@oklahomawatch.org. Follow her on Twitter @ jpalmerOKC.
