Texas Education Board Appears Likely To Require All Public School Students To Read Bible Passages

Texas education officials are weighing whether to require public school students in every grade to read passages from the Bible. Last year, the Texas Board of Education approved an optional curriculum, known as Bluebonnet Learning, infused with Christian messaging. However, adoption of the curriculum has been slow, as a coalition of legal organizations, such as the ACLU of Texas and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, sent letters to school boards threatening to sue if they started using it. The board is now considering whether to mandate that public school students read certain passages of the Bible. Last week, the board held a meeting to discuss required reading lists for K-12 students. The list of proposed reading material for seventh graders includes novels such as “A Wrinkle in Time.” Seventh graders would be required to read the “Definition of Love” from 1 Corinthians. The majority of the board members are Republicans, and they expressed support for the idea of requiring students to read portions of the Bible in school, the Houston Chronicle reported. A Republican board member who represents Central Texas, Tom Maynard, said that the proposal is “really building a scaffolding that culminates in a foundation in Western literature,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Another Republican board member said in a post on Facebook that the proposed reading list would “bring the Word of God back into schools in a meaningful way for the first time in decades.”“We need prayer warriors to intercede for this vote,” he added. The required reading list still needs final approval and may go through several changes before the board meets again in April. Some board members said they wanted the list to be shorter, while others said they wanted to see more modern books added to the list. Board members will likely consider the proposed list two more times, in April and June. Once approved, the list would be required for English classes beginning in the 2030-2031 school year. The board’s secretary, Will Hickman, acknowledged Friday that there are questions about whether the readings are in the “right grade” level or whether there are “too many books” or “not enough.”A Democratic board member, Tiffany Clark, said the list lacks “a lot of inclusion of everyone that the state of Texas represents, especially our students of color.”The list includes works by authors such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., and Langston Hughes. But critics argue that there should be more works from people of color.Meanwhile, another Democrat on the board, Tiffany Perkins, argued that if “literary exposure to the Bible is the point,” then the state should mandate that public school students read texts from other religions as well. “It’s very white, male-centric. No Hispanic authors, ninth through 12th grade,” she said. “In 11th grade, when they teach American literature, there are no women authors.”Some Republican board members downplayed religious liberty concerns and said that parents who are not comfortable with the state requiring Bible readings can opt their children out of the lessons. In the 1963 Supreme Court case Abington School District v. Schempp, the court ruled that public schools cannot sponsor Bible readings or recitation of prayer.However, public schools are allowed to use religious texts for literary or historical purposes. Supporters of infusing Biblical passages in public schools argue that the text was crucial in the founding of America and Western culture and literature. Texas would be the first state to mandate Bible readings if the board of education approves the proposed reading list. Oklahoma’s previous state superintendent, Ryan Walters, issued a mandate for every public school classroom to have a Bible. That mandate was rescinded by Mr. Walters’ successor last year. While the board of education considers whether to require public school students to read the Bible, Texas and Louisiana are awaiting a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on whether their laws requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments are constitutional.

Texas Education Board Appears Likely To Require All Public School Students To Read Bible Passages

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