Public School Students in Utah Will Soon Study Bible Verses ‘Alluded To’ in America’s Founding Documents

Public school students in Utah, as young as third graders, will soon be required to learn verses from the Bible that are “alluded to” in America’s founding documents.In recent years, Republican lawmakers have sought to push back on what they called “woke” indoctrination in schools by pushing for public schools to include portions of the Bible in education.In 2024, Texas approved a voluntary curriculum that included references to the Bible and Christianity, though most districts in the state have opted not to use it. Oklahoma’s previous state superintendent, Ryan Walters, mandated that public schools have Bibles in every classroom. But his predecessor rescinded that mandate.Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, has signed H.B. 312, which requires public school students to learn passages from the Bible that are “alluded to” in American historical documents. It also requires that teachers provide a comparative analysis of “Enlightenment philosophy, Protestant and Catholic thought, deism and natural law theory.”The standards will apply to students in grades three through 12. A policy advisor for the USBE, Jennifer Wadsworth, told the Salt Lake Tribune that students will not be taught the “Bible as a whole.”“It’s just the specific passages from the texts that allude to founding documents,” she said. The curriculum is expected to cost taxpayers about $12 million. With the requirements to teach Bible verses come questions about whether the standards violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Mr. Cox previously told the Salt Lake Tribune that he believes the bill will survive legal challenges because it is not using the Bible for “spiritual study.”“It’s about understanding history and the things that influence people. And I think it would be irresponsible not to have those types of great books being understood when it comes to a civics curriculum,” he said. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools can teach the Bible as a “historical” or “literary” text, but said it cannot sponsor Bible readings.A law professor at the University of Utah, Clifford Rosky, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the law was “carefully drafted by people who are aware of the Supreme Court precedents in this area.”“It’s written to maximize the amount of teaching about religion, while not requiring or permitting the teaching of religion,” he said.An organization focused on pushing back against the infusion of religion in public schools and institutions, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says the bill is a form of “unconstitutional proselytizing.”It argues that the bill will force “divisive religious displays and rhetoric into schools.”“The bill sponsors attempt to whitewash the dialogue by including alongside actual founding texts like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,” the FFRF said. The law does not specifically state which Bible verse should be included. It leaves those choices up to the Utah State Board of Education to craft new social studies standards for the 2028-29 school year.

Public School Students in Utah Will Soon Study Bible Verses ‘Alluded To’ in America’s Founding Documents

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