Texas State Board of Education votes to require millions of students to study Bible stories

The Texas State Board of Education has approved a proposal that would create a list of required readings, including classic titles as well as Bible verses, for the K-12 English and literature curriculum.

The plan would affect more than 5 million public school students as Texas has emerged as a leader in national conservative efforts to inject Christian teachings into American classrooms.

Multiple titles will be required for each class and each must be read “completely.” This effort goes way beyond one thing 2023 law This requires teaching at least one state board-approved literary work at each grade level.

It’s not unusual for states to recommend book titles for schools, but Texas may be the first to establish a literature rule for every public school student, two experts said Associated Press.

Most Texas students are familiar with at least some Christian teachings: Last year, the state became the largest state requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, a law recently upheld in federal court.

According to the proposed list, the new list of required titles would include, among other references, a picture book adaptation of the story of David and Goliath for elementary students and passages from the Bible about Adam and Eve for older students. online. There will also be a heavy emphasis on classic literature and historical American texts such as Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.”

At the same meeting Friday, the school board also approved a rewrite of the state’s social studies curriculum; thus focusing more on Texas and U.S. history and deemphasizing some teachings about global history and cultures. The change would eliminate the “World Cultures” course in sixth grade and significantly expand courses on communism.

The proposals sharply divided teachers, parents and community members; Hundreds of them appeared before the school board this week to voice their concerns and enthusiasm.

Supporters argue that the Bible should be studied as an important literary text that can help students understand Western history and the founding of the United States. Board member Brandon Hall called the proposals a “generational opportunity” to overhaul the state curriculum at a news conference Thursday.

“We will stop diluting American history. We will teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state,” said Hall, a Republican who pastors in Springtown. He said the Bible has had “a remarkable impact on our culture, our societies, and our laws.”

But opponents of the changes say the required reading list favors Christianity over other religions and violates the separation of church and state.

Board member Evelyn Brooks, the only Republican to vote against the required new text, said during Friday’s debate that she believed the move was “unconstitutional.”

“Teachers need to have autonomy. They’ve been choosing books for decades,” Brooks said.

The changes will come into force from the 2030-2031 academic year.

“I suspect, like any change in education, there will be increased pain,” said board member LJ Francis, who voted in favor of this provision.

Still, he told CNN: “I think we’ll see reading scores go up and we’ll see kids relearn and love reading.”

From Sunday school to public school

In recent years, Texas leaders have expanded schools’ ability to introduce Christianity to students while largely eliminating work on racial and cultural diversity.

Became the first state to give permission in 2023 Priests counseling studentsand the following year approved a measure this provided more funding to schools that optionally taught a Bible-infused elementary school curriculum. state education law It already requires K-12 schools to teach “religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament, and its influence on history and literature.”

As students learn U.S. history, supporters of the new curriculum argue that Christian texts should be inseparable from courses on the country’s founding.

“We don’t have to include every religious belief in our history or literary works because our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values,” Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, a group that advocates for Christian parents, said at the school board meeting Monday.

Perez noted Christian references in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, signed in 1787 in the “Year of Our Lord.”

Under the new reading list, third graders will read titles such as “Stuart Little” and “Charlotte’s Web” as well as the story “ROAR! – Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” according to recommended online lists.

As students progress through their reading levels, they will be introduced to passages directly from the Bible. Sixth graders will learn “The Shepherd’s Psalm” from the Book of Psalms As well as the religious writings of George Washington and the poetry of Langston Hughes and Robert Frost.

Many community members expressed concerns at Monday’s board meeting that the plan would infringe on their autonomy as parents to oversee their children’s religious education.

Kimmie Fink, a mother in an active-duty military family stationed in Texas, told the board: “I would like to believe that my children’s constitutionally guaranteed rights to religious freedom will remain intact no matter where we serve.”

“Isn’t that the case in Texas, a state that advocates for parental rights? In Texas, parents have the fundamental legal right to direct the moral and religious education of their children without state interference. The proposed literary works trample on that right,” Fink added.

Some advocates for changing the curriculum dispute claims that children would be explicitly taught religion, saying Bible passages and stories would be taught in the context of world history.

Board member Francis said he did not consider the inclusion of Bible passages in lessons as “religious propaganda.”

“What we plan to do is introduce new or great kids in Texas to the richness and breadth of Western literature,” Francis told CNN after the vote Friday. he said.

Earlier this week, former public school administrator Nancy Barker argued before the board that Bible readings “will provide students with the background knowledge you need to understand the books, speeches, poems, and important documents that have shaped our civilization.”

‘We don’t all believe in the same thing’

Board member Tiffany Clark, a Christian and Democrat who represents parts of Dallas-Fort Worth, had vocally opposed the curriculum. Clark said Thursday that he and some of his Christian constituents believe “Bible classes should be held on Sundays.”

“We don’t all believe the same thing,” Clark told CNN, noting that Christian denominations refer to different translations of the Bible and their interpretations differ from time to time.

The new curriculum mandates certain Bible translations, including the King James Bible, which is widely used by Protestant and Evangelical churches but shunned by the Roman Catholic Church.

Clark also said he feared that the emphasis on Christian texts would alienate children from other religious backgrounds and prevent their parents from solely shaping their religious education. About a third of adults Texas identifies itself as non-ChristianAccording to Pew Research Center’s 2023-2024 research.

Although parents have the option of withdrawing their children from some required education, missing classes can affect students’ test scores, Clark said. Because the texts will be part of the curriculum, they can be included on standardized tests and could potentially impact the school district’s testing records if students do not perform well.

One mother who spoke in support of the proposal before the school board Monday said she believes Texas has always been in favor of “giving our kids the knowledge they need to be successful.”

“Keeping biblical references in our social studies standards is not about pushing my religion, it is about giving our students a thorough education here and making sure they understand history,” Anne said.

But Rabbi Joshua Fixler of Congregation Emanu El in Houston said teachers can be put in the position of teaching religious texts with which they are not familiar or comfortable.

“This list is full of Christian texts that are inappropriate for public school classrooms. As a rabbi and a parent of Jewish children, I think it is vital that this board makes a distinction between religious teaching and religious teaching. This list will force teachers to toe that line,” Fixler said.

A mandatory literature curriculum could be the first of its kind, according to Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and professor of education at Stanford University.

Garcia said A.P. He knows of no other state with a similar list. Educators at the district and school levels can often choose the texts their students read, he said.

Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, told the AP she believes such a required reading list would be unique to Texas.

“I think there are a lot of state lists of recommended readings, recommended readings,” he told the AP.

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