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The State Board of Education meeting room is pictured inside the William B. Travis Building in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
2021 File Photo<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 State Board of Education<\/a> is expected to vote this month on a pair of proposals that would add to the growing presence of Christianity in classrooms across the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s an effort conservative leaders have championed, saying the state\u2019s education system needs to return to foundational American values. Critics say the push for more Christian teaching would give students an incomplete picture of the nation\u2019s history and leaves out other religious traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The board is expected to take a final vote at a meeting this month on the state\u2019s revised Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for social studies<\/a>. The standards dictate what skills and concepts students are expected to learn at each grade level. The standards include biblical figures such as Abraham and Moses alongside figures from American and Texas history such as George Washington and Sam Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The board also is expected to vote on a required reading list<\/a> that includes Biblical passages, such as the stories of David and Goliath, the prophet Jonah being swallowed by a fish and the Road to Damascus, which recounts the apostle Paul\u2019s conversion from a persecutor of Christians into a follower of Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Here’s how to submit comment on Texas reading list that includes Bible stories. See the full list of texts<\/a><\/p>\n A 2023 state law requires the board to develop a list of literary works students are required to read. The list must include at least one literary work per grade \u2014 well short of the roughly 200 titles included in a pared down list that received preliminary approval during the board\u2019s January meeting. \u00a0<\/p>\n Board member Tiffany Clark, D-DeSoto, said in an email that public schools must serve all students, not pick which ones feel included and which are left out. That means the state can\u2019t use policy to promote one religion over another. Although she\u2019s a Christian herself, Clark said the state and its public schools has no business making rules that deal with faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cMy faith is real to me. It guides how I move, how I treat people, how I show up,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my faith does not need government endorsement to stand. And it definitely doesn\u2019t need to be forced on somebody else to be valid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Board member Evelyn Brooks, R-Plano, said she\u2019s comfortable with the idea of an optional literature course focusing on the Old and New Testaments, but only at the high school level.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parents deserve the chance to teach their children their own religion before they\u2019re exposed to something else at school, she said. It could be confusing for elementary school students to hear one set of religious ideas at home, then learn about another set of doctrines at school, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooks also said she doesn\u2019t support the literary works list. Her concerns about the list have less to do with any of the titles it includes than the number of works teachers are required to teach. Brooks, a former teacher, said she worries the list is so extensive teachers won\u2019t be able to do anything else, robbing them of the ability to choose books that are a good fit for their classes or communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither of the other two board members representing portions of North Texas \u2014 Pam Little, R-Fairview and Brandon Hall, R-Aledo \u2014 responded to calls or emails for comment. Hall, who serves as pastor of a church in\u00a0Springtown, wrote on Facebook before the board\u2019s January meeting that the reading list \u201cwould bring the Word of God back into schools in a meaningful way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Religion gains a presence in Texas classrooms\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, the board narrowly voted to approve Bluebonnet Learning<\/a>, an elementary school reading curriculum that includes Bible stories. Last year, state lawmakers passed a bill requiring school districts to display donated placards of the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The law was challenged but has since been upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Separately, lawmakers passed a bill last year requiring all Texas school boards to hold a vote on whether to designate time for prayer and Scripture reading. The law doesn\u2019t require districts to adopt such a policy, only that they vote on one. Most North Texas school boards rejected the proposal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mandy Drogin, a senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said the policies aren\u2019t about proselytizing in school. They\u2019re about making sure students have a basic understanding of the foundations of American society and Western civilization. \u00a0<\/p>\n The foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin, championed several of the policies giving Christianity a greater presence in Texas schools. In April, the Texas Tribune reported that the foundation gave a $70,000 grant<\/a> to the university department of one of the content advisers leading the revamp of the social studies standards, prompting Democratic State Board of Education members to pause the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Drogin argued it\u2019s impossible to disentangle American history from the Christian underpinnings of the nation\u2019s founding. She noted the signers of the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, wrote that they undertook the journey from England \u201cfor the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo one’s saying to worship Jesus. No one’s saying anything that is proselytization,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we have to make sure that students, American kids, understand how America became what we are today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Emphasizing Christianity\u2019s role in American history\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas students already learn about religion in their social studies classes. But those lessons generally deal with concepts such as the role of religious ideas in shaping historical events and the cultural impact of various world religions. \u00a0<\/p>\n The proposed standards go further, placing greater emphasis on Christianity\u2019s role in American history and downplaying the impact of other faiths. Much of the proposed standards\u2019 dealings with Islam focuses on conflicts between Christians and Muslims. The board scrapped a standard dealing with Muslim scholars\u2019 contributions to the development of algebra and astronomy at its April meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n