AUSTIN, Texas – Texas would allow Bible-infused lessons in elementary schools under changes that were set for a final vote Friday and could test boundaries between religion and public education in the U.S.
The proposed curriculum narrowly cleared a preliminary vote this week at the Texas State Board of Education, whose elected members heard hours of sometimes impassioned pleas from both supporters and critics over the material that schools could begin using next year.
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If adopted, the new Texas curriculum would follow Republican-led efforts in neighboring states to give religion more of a presence in public schools. In Oklahoma, the state's education chief has ordered a copy of the Bible in every classroom, while Louisiana wants to make all of the state’s public school classrooms post the Ten Commandments beginning next year.
In Texas, it would be optional for schools to adopt the materials, but they’d receive additional funding if they do so.
If the board advances the curriculum, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in schools in this manner, according to Matthew Patrick Shaw, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.
Creating Bible-infused lessons
The Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education for more than 5 million students statewide, created its own instruction materials after a law passed in 2023 by the GOP-controlled Legislature required the agency to do so. The lesson plans were publicly released this spring.
The material draws on lessons from Christianity more than any other religion in the proposed reading and language arts modules for kindergarten through fifth grade, which critics say would alienate students from different faith backgrounds and potentially violate the First Amendment.
“This curriculum is not age-appropriate or subject matter appropriate in the way that it presents these Bible stories,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Children who would read the material, she said, “are simply too young to tell the difference between what is a faith claim and what is a matter of fact.”
More than 100 people testified at a board meeting this week that rung with emotion from parents, teachers and advocates. Supporters of the curriculum argued that the Bible is a core feature of American history and teaching it will enrich students’ learning.
“It is said that there are close to 300 common-day phrases that actually come from the Bible,” said Mary Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a right-leaning advocacy group. "So students will benefit from being able to understand a lot of these references that are in literature and have a way to be able to comprehend them.”
A narrow early vote
The 15-member board consists of 11 Republicans and four Democrats. It signaled support for the materials in a 8-7 preliminary vote on Wednesday.
One of the board members is a Republican who was appointed to the board just weeks ago by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to temporarily fill a vacant seat. Days after that appointment, a Democrat who ran unopposed was elected to fill that same board seat starting next year.
Abbott has publicly supported the instruction materials.
Whether the lesson plans will be considered constitutional is up in the air if the curriculum passes, Shaw said.
“The question is how is Texas going to frame what is done here to avoid the establishment question or tackle it head-on,” he said.
Bringing religion into schools
Texas' plans to implement Biblical teachings in public school lesson plans is the latest effort by Republican-controlled states to bring religion into the classroom.
In Louisiana, a law to place the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue.
In Oklahoma, the state's top education official has tried to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in fifth through 12th grades. A group of teachers and parents recently filed a lawsuit to stop the Republican state superintendent's plan and his efforts to spend $3 million to purchase Bibles for public schools.
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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.