OKLAHOMA CITY – House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, released the following statement after the State Superintendent announced at today’s State Department of Education meeting that OSDE will request $3 million from the legislature to fund bibles in public school classrooms.

“The State Superintendent continues to ignore the Oklahoma Constitution,” Leader Munson said. “He wants to use millions in public taxpayer dollars to fund religion in public schools—something the majority of Oklahomans are adamantly against— while Oklahoma public schools remain some of the most underfunded public schools in the nation. Oklahoma ranks 45th in the United States for per-student expenditures and Oklahoma public school teachers are paid more than $10,000 less than the national average salary for public school teachers. There are major gaps in funding public education in Oklahoma, and yet the State Superintendent continues to abandon the needs of our public school districts to push for policies that do not benefit teachers, students, or families. He has and continues to fail us and our public schools.”