Oklahoma superintendent has no power to make schools show Trump prayer video, AG’s office says

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top education official has no authority to force schools to show students a video of himself praying for incoming President Donald Trump, the state Attorney General’s Office found.

“Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents’ rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights,” Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Phil Bacharach said Friday.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters sent the video statewide on Thursday and ordered public schools to show it to all students and parents. 

Some Oklahoma school districts have said they don’t intend to comply. 

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Dan Isett, did not answer questions about the agency’s authority to make the requirement nor what penalty schools would face for ignoring the order.

“Supt. Walters is ending the ongoing attacks on President Donald Trump and his agenda to get prayer back in schools,” Isett said.

In an email to district superintendents, Walters said the first act of his new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism is to require all schools to “play the attached video to all kids that are enrolled” and also send it to parents.

In the video, which is posted on the Education Department’s YouTube page, Walters prays for Trump and his presidential administration “as they continue to bring about change to the country.” 

Walters told students they weren’t obligated to join him in prayer.

His video also blames the “radical left” for attacking religious liberty in schools and claims teacher unions have mocked patriotism.

“We will not tolerate that in any school in Oklahoma,” Walters said in the video. “We want our students to be patriotic. We want our students to love this country, and we want all students’ religious liberty to be protected.”

Edmond Public Schools, a district that successfully challenged Walters in court over local control of school media content, said it has no plans to show the video. 

Superintendent Angela Grunewald notified Edmond parents on Friday that the district will carry on with its locally decided curriculum.

“Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously ruled that we have the authority to make these decisions at the local level and we will continue to do so,” Grunewald wrote.

Midwest City-Del City Public Schools won’t show the video either, Superintendent Rick Cobb said in a statement to Oklahoma Voice.

“We have seen the email and video sent yesterday by Superintendent Walters,” Cobb said. “We do not believe he has the statutory authority to require us to share this content. We will not be showing the video in classrooms or sending it to parents.”

Email correspondence Oklahoma Voice obtained shows Walters attempted to recall the message Thursday evening. Some districts reported getting the recall notice, but others said they did not. 

The state’s third-largest district, Epic Charter School, told Oklahoma Voice it has no record of ever receiving Walters’ original message with the video.

Administrators in Oklahoma City Public Schools, the state’s second-biggest district, received the video and will review it, communications director Courtney Scott said.

Former OKCPS school board member Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, urged schools to disregard Walters’ order. Mann, a former Education Department official under then-Superintendent Sandy Garrett, said the agency has no legal authority to make such a demand.

“Education should be about our students, not Walters using more public resources in an attempt to promote himself,” Mann said in a statement.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.