![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/David-DeMatthews-e1697663126483.jpeg\")
David DeMatthews<\/p>\n
What Texas needs is not a reading list with biblical texts, but a serious commitment to helping millions of children access high-quality literacy instruction.<\/p>\n
The sprawling reading list developed by the Texas Education Agency has spiraled into an avoidable controversy and distraction. Rather than focusing on strengthening literacy instruction, both TEA and the State Board of Education have become bogged down in disputes over religious content, representation, and the overwhelming number of required books.<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 ongoing decline in reading achievement makes this distraction even worse. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress \u2014 the nation\u2019s most trusted measure of student achievement \u2014 Texas\u2019s reading problems are undeniable.<\/p>\n
Eighth-grade reading scores have dropped<\/a> from 264 in 2013 to 252 in 2024, while the percentage of students unable to grasp basic text has soared from 24% to 39%. The most vulnerable students are struggling the most.<\/p>\n Eighth-grade students classified as economically disadvantaged scored about 27% lower<\/a> than their more advantaged peers while students with disabilities rank near the bottom nationally.<\/a>\u00a0Just 15% of economically disadvantaged fourth-graders<\/a> were proficient or advanced on the NAEP reading assessment.<\/p>\n NAEP results matter because they are untethered from Texas\u2019s accountability system and largely immune to political pressure, teaching to the test, or policy changes. Texans should place greater trust in NAEP than in STAAR, which has been repeatedly redesigned, rescored, and repackaged<\/a> \u2014 allowing state leaders to assert \u201cprogress\u201d or \u201ccrisis\u201d to suit political agendas.<\/p>\n For example, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath boasted that Houston ISD\u2019s progress on STAAR and the A-F system represented the \u201clargest academic improvement that has happened at this scale in the United States<\/a>.\u201d Texans should be skeptical because STAAR scores can go up by intensive test-prep routines aimed at boosting STAAR scores that are not genuine gains in literacy. NAEP, by contrast, cannot be gamed, coached or drilled for like STAAR.<\/p>\n TEA\u2019s proposed reading list under review by the SBOE does nothing to address the deep-rooted causes of Texas\u2019s reading crisis which include chronic underinvestment in public education, a worsening teacher shortage, and a statewide \u201cscience of reading\u201d initiative that has failed to move the needle on NAEP reading scores.<\/p>\n A Texas Tribune analysis<\/a> revealed that the state\u2019s per-student funding has significantly declined over the past decade. Even the\u00a0recent legislative increase \u2014 raising the basic allotment by only $55 per student \u2014 falls far short of enabling<\/a> districts to hire and retain qualified reading teachers or provide robust literacy interventions.<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 teacher shortage has only intensified, forcing many districts to staff classrooms with uncertified teachers. According to TEA,\u00a0the number of uncertified teachers<\/a> soared from about 11,000 in 2018-19 to nearly 40,000 in 2023-24 \u2014 almost 11% of the state\u2019s entire teaching force.<\/p>\n Results have fallen short even where Texas has invested. Consider the state\u2019s 2019 flagship 60-hour\u00a0\u201cscience of reading\u201d academies for teachers and principals. Years later, reading scores remain stagnant or have declined.<\/p>\n Where Texas has failed, some other states have improved following common-sense reforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mississippi\u2019s much-publicized NAEP gains<\/a> reflect a decade of focused literacy reforms, early interventions, and strengthened teacher preparation and professional development.\u00a0The Los Angeles Unified School District saw improvements in eighth-grade reading<\/a>\u00a0following expanded summer learning and intensive supports in high-need schools.<\/p>\n Neither Mississippi nor LAUSD fanned the flames of culture wars with divisive reading lists \u2013 they invested in teachers and the supports students need.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now is the time for Texas to do the same by restoring school funding, aggressively reducing reliance on uncertified teachers, and ensuring that teachers receive ongoing, high-quality trainings coupled with healthy working conditions that keep experienced educators in the classroom.<\/p>\n These are the steps to improve reading. Anything less is symbolic, performative and will continue to fail Texas children.<\/p>\n David DeMatthews, a former El Pasoan, is a\u00a0professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/elpasomatters.org\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion-texas-reading-crisis-culture-war-literacy-reform\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/elpasomatters.org”>El Paso Matters<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elpasomatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/elpasomatters.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=110297″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/elpasomatters.org\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion-texas-reading-crisis-culture-war-literacy-reform\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/elpasomatters.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Special to El Paso Matters, El Paso Matters February 3, 2026 By David DeMatthews Texas continues to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2353,138,140,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-149234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-commentary","9":"tag-el-paso","10":"tag-el-paso-headlines","11":"tag-el-paso-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}