Texas board approves public school reading material that includes Bible stories
The vote in Texas to allow Bible stories in public school course materials is part of a larger trend across the region sometimes dubbed the Bible Belt.
The Texas State Board of Education narrowly approved a controversial set of state-developed instructional materials Friday that drew significant backlash from some teachers, parents and civil rights groups for including Bible stories prominently in the elementary reading lessons.
The materials sparked months of heated rebukes from opponents who said the lessons lean toward proselytizing and include instruction more suited to Sunday school. Supporters of the teaching material – known as Bluebonnet – say it fills a need for high-quality instructional resources for overworked teachers and that including Christian stories enriches students’ cultural literacy.
The vote in Texas to allow Bible stories in public school course materials is part of a larger trend across the region sometimes dubbed the Bible Belt. In Oklahoma, the top education official ordered public schools to teach the Bible and Louisiana leaders directed schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. A federal judge recently ruled the Louisiana law mandating displays of the Ten Commandments was unconstitutional.)
GOP leaders in these states also challenged constitutional protections that bar religious instruction from public education. Ryan Walters, the state superintendent of public instruction in Oklahoma, has said he credits President-elect Donald Trump with helping to build support for this movement during his 2024 presidential campaign.
These measures have cropped up outside the South as well. In Ohio, lawmakers are debating a bill that would require schools to adopt policies allowing students to be released from school during the day for religious instruction.
School administrators and civil rights advocates have pushed back in various regions, saying these mandates violate students' rights and the First Amendment, which says the federal government cannot make laws governing the "establishment of religion" or prohibiting "the free exercise thereof."
Class materials including Bible won by narrow margin
The state's education board approved Bluebonnet for Texas schools by an 8-7 vote with only Republican members voting for it. All Democratic members and three Republicans voted against introducing it to schools.
"Had it not been for the Christian bias in this content, I do really find value in how these lessons were laid out," said Marisa Perez-Diaz, a Democratic board member from San Antonio.
During a preliminary discussion about the materials Tuesday, board member Tom Maynard, a Republican from an area north of Austin, noted that including Christian stories gives students an opportunity to understand a major American religion.
"This is really about cultural awareness," Maynard said, adding that many books reference the Bible and Christian stories.
"This is about literature and really preparing a student to consume literature on a much broader scale," Maynard said.
Republican members who voted against the materials said they did so out of concern for their quality, rather than the inclusion of the Bible stories.
In a statement released this week, Vice Chairwoman Pam Little, a Republican from a region north of Dallas, said she “firmly" supported teaching "of "biblical values" in school, but had concerns about how phonics were introduced and about lessons that emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion, “which do not align with the values many Texas families hold dear.”
What is Bluebonnet?
The Bluebonnet resource is an optional tool Texas teachers will be able to use free of charge, however, school districts that elect to teach the material will get up to $60 per child for doing so.
The Texas Legislature mandated the creation of the Bluebonnet materials in 2023 when lawmakers passed House Bill 1605, a law designed to give teachers access to high-quality instructional tools.
After the measure passed, the Texas Education Agency developed content for elementary school math and reading courses.
Some groups that oppose the inclusion of the Bible stories in the Bluebonnet material have said it would be difficult for cash-strapped school districts across Texas to pass up the extra $60 per student. Opponents have pointed to specific passages they take issue with, including a lengthy reading lesson in a kindergarten unit that shows artwork centered on biblical creation and quotes from the book of Genesis.
Nationwide conversation
The approval of the Texas Education Agency-created materials broadens the politicized national conversation about the role of religion in public schools.
This debate about the role of religion in public schools is cropping up across the nation, although it's not new, said Joshua Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University.
“What’s old is new,” Cowen said, adding that in the 1960s, prayer and the study of the Bible in schools became hot-button issues that energized public debate.
A surge in interest in religion in schools typically coincides with an effort to boost voter engagement from the right, Cowen said.
Texas has had its share of these debates, especially since the state has billionaires funding the efforts, Cowen said.
The state, he said, is “sort of a breeding ground for this sort of thing both because there's a lot of people but also because there's a lot of money.”
Texas lawmakers have begun filing bills for the upcoming state legislative session that would further integrate religion into public schools. One such proposal would require the posting of the Ten Commandments in each classroom and another would provide students with periods of prayer during the school day.