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Without the Bible, schools don’t have a prayer. Oklahoma has a solution

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Without the Bible, schools don’t have a prayer. Oklahoma has a solution

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Special interest groups are trying to keep a ban on books in Oklahoma, but not the ones you’re probably thinking of. These books are thousands of years old, were taught in American schools from the earliest days of our republic, helped guide our founders and greatest statesmen at critical points in our history and helped forge Western civilization. I’m referring to the books contained in the Bible.  

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I just announced that Oklahoma schools would incorporate the Bible into their educational curriculum for grades 5-12 in the 2024-2025 school year. The backlash has been as venomous as it has been completely predictable. Let me be clear: we will teach the Bible. 

The simple fact of the matter is that the Bible is the most consequential piece of literature in the history of Western civilization. Whether or not one chooses to accept it as the inspired word of God, there is simply no way to fully understand the history of this country, the world in which it was founded, or the millennia of human events that led up to the making of America without being at least somewhat conversant in what it contains.  

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While I have previously written at length about the Judeo-Christian tradition’s unquestionable importance in our founding, the Bible’s significance at the most critical moments of our history cannot be denied. Empirical analysis of the writings of our founding generation found that they referenced the Bible far more than any other philosophical work.  

The Bible figures in a huge part of American history and Oklahoma has a plan to teach it. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

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Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that our rights are endowed by our creator in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln’s most eloquent arguments against the evil of slavery — in addition to hearkening to the Biblical truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence — were also based on scripture.  

Most notable among these was his “House Divided” speech, which drew its key imagery from Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew. His now-famous fragment on the Constitution and Union borrows from the Psalms in calling the Declaration the “apple of gold” in a “picture of silver” framed around it. Martin Luther King Jr. pointed to these same Biblical truths, when making the case to the American people during the civil rights movement.  

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American students deserve to know the role that the Bible played in American history and its role in shaping the very American idea. We owe it to them to teach them. Furthermore, we owe it to the generations before us who founded this country and preserved this experiment in liberty in self-government for us.  

We should not forget that we are inheritors and stewards of this country, and we cannot preserve something that we do not properly understand — neither can our children. It is academic malpractice not to include the Bible in our curricula and it is cultural malpractice to deny its role and importance to history and our way of life.  

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Yet, we have seen the Bible driven out of public discussion, out of common knowledge and out of American schools through the left’s militant anti-theistic march through our culture and our institutions. The Supreme Court has completely ignored the role of faith in our founding for the past several decades in many of its cases driving scripture and prayer from our classrooms and schools writ large.  

To call this unconstitutional is simply absurd. Some will claim that this should be prevented by a so-called “separation of church and state.” As I have already explained elsewhere, that canard is an anti-religious myth masquerading as legal theory.  

Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that our rights are endowed by our creator in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln’s most eloquent arguments against the evil of slavery — in addition to hearkening to the Biblical truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence — were also based on scripture.  

Never mind that the Bible was an expected part of the curriculum in American schools up until about the last 60 years or so. One way to square this would be the laughable idea that our founders simply misunderstood the Constitution they wrote, which is absurd on its face.  


 
Some will say that a “living Constitution” now requires that we scrub religion from schools. But written constitutions are not “living,” they are made of words with concrete meanings printed with ink onto pulverized, dead trees. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights mean today what they meant when they were written. Teaching the Bible is constitutional. 

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Put simply, the Bible was key to making America great and to making America at all, for that matter. Today, it is critical to keeping America great. We are going to teach it in Oklahoma. I welcome all challenges to this action — political and legal — and I look forward to defending this necessary, commonsense policy out in the open. Our children deserve it, and our country needs it. 

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Brother killed after teen becomes ‘enraged’ over video game, stabs sibling: police

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Brother killed after teen becomes ‘enraged’ over video game, stabs sibling: police

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An Oklahoma teenager is behind bars after allegedly calling 911 to tell authorities he stabbed his brother to death after becoming “enraged” over a video game. 

Oklahoma City police were called to the scene of a domestic stabbing at Southeast 44th Street and Bryant Avenue around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to FOX 8. 

When they arrived, officers learned two brothers, 19-year-old William Spencer and 25-year-old Nicholas Spencer, were reportedly playing video games when William Spencer became angry and allegedly stabbed his brother. 

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William Spencer, 19, is charged with first-degree murder in the alleged killing of his brother in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.  (Oklahoma County Detention Center)

“The calling person called in and said they had just stabbed their brother, officers got here and found a male with serious stab wounds,” Oklahoma City Police Master Sgt. Rob Robertson said, according to FOX 8.

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The Oklahoma County Detention Center is pictured in Oklahoma City on Oct. 3, 2023.  (Nathan J. Fish/The Oklahoman via USA Today)

Paramedics transported Nicholas Spencer to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

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“Very tragic story,” Master Sgt. Gary Knight said during a news conference, according to Law & Crime. “Two brothers who were playing video games. One became enraged over the game, got mad at the other and simply stabbed him to death.”

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Authorities with the Oklahoma City Police Department reportedly responded to a 911 call regarding a domestic stabbing incident in an Oklahoma City suburb on Sunday, January 18, 2026. (iStock)

Immediately following the incident, William Spencer “stayed at the scene,” and was later “taken into custody, interviewed and then also booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center,” Knight reportedly said. 

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William Spencer allegedly admitted to his role in the killing and was transported to the Oklahoma County Jail and booked on a charge of first-degree murder, Law & Crime reported. He remains in custody on $10 million bond. 

The Oklahoma City Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Houston school district trying to woo parents while losing students amid school choice competition

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Houston school district trying to woo parents while losing students amid school choice competition

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Houston Independent School District (HISD) has to win back parents as more appear to be turning away from large urban school districts across the country.

“If you’ve been looking at the national statistics, a lot of places have experienced enrollment loss. In Houston, right after COVID, this district lost 15,000 kids that didn’t come back,” HISD Superintendent Mike Miles told Fox News Digital.

“A lot of districts lost a lot of kids, and they never came back,” Miles added.

HISD presides over 274 schools and 184,109 students. Historically the largest school district in Texas, despite some fluctuations in recent years after COVID, the district touted academic progress across all grades and subjects and “more than doubled the number of A and B rated schools in just two years.”

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HISD reported a significant drop last week. Houston Public Media obtained a document from the district confirming that their enrollment declined more significantly last year than officials expected. (Houston Independent School District)

“Additionally, the District is retaining its best and most effective teachers. Last year, more than 84% of teachers rated Proficient I or above and 89% of teachers rated Exemplary I returned for the 2025-2026 school year,” a district spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

However, despite its success, the rise of school choice policies has forced public school districts to compete. Charter schools have intensified that competition because they aren’t regulated the same way as traditional public schools. Most states restrict parents to schools within their ZIP code or district, but charter schools give families alternatives. Additionally, more parents are choosing to homeschool their children since the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re looking forward to capturing some of the kids who may have gone to charter schools and getting them back,” Miles told Fox News Digital. “I think we’re getting to a point where we will be competing well with any other school, charter, voucher, virtual, private, and that’s we’re trying to do,” he added.

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HISD reported a significant drop last week. Houston Public Media obtained a document from the district confirming that their enrollment declined more significantly last year than officials expected. Houston Independent School District lost 8,300 students this year, totaling more than 16,000 students leaving the state’s largest school district over the past two years, according to the Houston Chronicle.

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HISD presides over 274 schools and 184,109 students. Historically the largest school district in Texas, despite some fluctuations in recent years after COVID, the district touted academic progress across all grades and subjects and “more than doubled the number of A and B rated schools in just two years.” (Houston Independent School District)

“What we do know aligns with larger national and statewide patterns. Large urban non-charter districts across Texas are experiencing enrollment drops, while suburban and rural districts are seeing increases,” a district spokesperson told Fox News Digital

School districts across the country — especially in urban areas — have experienced enrollment declines. Texas is among several states enacting universal school choice legislation in response to parents seeking alternatives to traditional public schools. The state created an Education Savings Account program with an initial $1 billion investment.

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The legislation introduces new competition into the education landscape, giving parents options outside the neighborhood school their child is zoned for — posing challenges for districts struggling to retain students.

HISD told Fox News Digital that “there is no single cause for enrollment decline.” Miles echoed that point, citing multiple issues driving the drop, including challenges facing large metropolitan areas — rising housing costs, poverty, and declining birth rates.

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“The biggest loss in enrollment was pre-K, first and second grade. And you already know that in the United States, but also in Texas and in Houston, demographics are changing. In other words, we don’t have as many kids born here. That’s one, so the birth rate has declined, and you can see that in our earlier grades having an impact,” Miles said.

“Houston is one of the poorest cities in the nation,” he continued. “The poverty rate is high and people move because of changes in the market. People who have fewer resources often are more impacted by increases in inflation or just property … What’s different in Houston is that we are now experiencing such good academic growth.”

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Teachers unions often criticize school choice policies, saying they siphon per-pupil funding from traditional public schools by allowing parents to opt out of their neighborhood campuses. Critics argue that money taken away from those schools could instead be used to raise teacher pay, improve facilities and recruit more educators.

Houston skyline. (iStock)

The Trump administration has made strides in expanding school choice nationwide. Among them is instituting a federal tax credit scholarship, giving individuals across the country an opportunity to support school choice programs within their states, circumventing anti-school choice measures.

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Former Uvalde school officer says he doesn’t regret actions after not guilty verdict

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Former Uvalde school officer says he doesn’t regret actions after not guilty verdict

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A former Uvalde school police officer is speaking out after he was acquitted on all counts nearly four years after the shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Adrian Gonzales, who was charged with 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment tied to the shooting, said in his first interview since the acquittal that he has no regrets about the actions he took on May 24, 2022.

The jury deliberated for just seven hours before returning the verdict. Gonzales did not take the stand during the trial, while his attorneys brought up two witnesses.

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Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales leaves the courtroom during a break at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)

An investigation found that it took 77 minutes from the time authorities arrived at the scene until the tactical team breached a classroom and killed the shooter. Police faced criticism over their response in the years since the shooting.

“You can sit here and tell me all you want about what I would have done, or what you would have done. Until you’re in that mix, you can’t tell me anything,” Gonzales told ABC News.

Gonzales was the first on the scene at Robb Elementary School when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos carried out his deadly attack. The former school police officer told ABC News that he did not see Ramos and that he retreated from inside the school building because of an order from his commanding officer.

“I did the best that I could with the information I was getting,” he said, adding, “I don’t regret it, because I took an order from my chief at that time.”

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Attorney Nico LaHood makes opening arguments during a trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)

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While he stands behind the actions he took during the shooting, Gonzales told ABC News that he understands that the victims’ families were frustrated with the verdict. He also said that he prays for the victims, their families and the community.

The 52-year-old former officer told ABC News that he believes he was selectively prosecuted, while others who arrived at the scene did not have their actions scrutinized.

“When the videos started playing, I realized that they handpicked me,” he told ABC News. “They had an excuse for everybody else. They did this, they did that, you know, but I had to do this, I had to do that.”

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Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, right, and his attorney Nico LaHood, left, arrive in the courtroom at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)

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After the verdict, Gonzales thanked God, his family, his legal team and the jury.

“First things first, I want to start by thanking God for this,” Gonzales said. “My family, my wife, and these guys right here. He put them in my path, you know? And I’m just thankful for that. Thank you to the jury for considering all the evidence and making their verdict.”

Former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo was also criminally charged in relation to the 2022 shooting. He was charged with endangerment or abandonment of a child and has pleaded not guilty. A date for Arredondo’s trial has not yet been set.

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The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

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