(CNN) \u2014 The Texas State Board of Education has approved a proposal that will establish lists of required reading \u2014 including Bible verses alongside classic titles \u2014 for its K-12 English and literature curriculum.<\/p>\n
The plan will impact more than 5 million public school students, as Texas emerges as a leader in a national conservative effort to infuse Christian teachings into American classrooms.<\/p>\n
Multiple titles will be mandated for each grade, and each one must be read \u201cin its entirety.\u201d<\/a> The effort goes far beyond a 2023 law<\/a> that requires at least one state board-approved literary work be taught in each grade level.<\/p>\n While it is not unusual for states to suggest book titles for schools, Texas may be the first to prescribe a literary canon for every public school student, two experts told The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many Texas students are already familiar with at least some Christian teachings: The state last year became the largest state<\/a> to require classrooms to display the Ten Commandments, a law recently upheld in federal court.<\/p>\n The new list of required titles will include a picture-book adaptation of the David and Goliath story for elementary students and Bible passages about Adam and Eve for older students, among other references, according to a proposed list online.<\/a> It will also heavily emphasize classic literature and historic American texts such as Abraham Lincoln\u2019s \u201cThe Gettysburg Address.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same meeting Friday, the school board will also take up a vote to rewrite the state\u2019s social studies curriculum, focusing more on Texas and US history and deemphasizing some teachings about global history and cultures. The change would eliminate a sixth grade \u201cWorld Cultures\u201d course and significantly expand lessons on communism.<\/p>\n The proposals have sharply divided teachers, parents and community members \u2014 hundreds of whom appeared before the school board this week to voice their concern and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n Supporters argue the Bible should be studied as an essential literary text that can help students understand Western history and the founding of the US. Board member Brandon Hall during a news conference Thursday called the proposals a \u201cgenerational opportunity\u201d to overhaul the state curriculum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to stop watering down American history. We\u2019re going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state,\u201d said Hall, a Republican who is a pastor in Springtown. He said the Bible has had a \u201cremarkable impact on our culture, our societies and our laws.\u201d<\/p>\n However, those who oppose the changes say the mandatory reading list favors Christianity over other religions and violates the separation between church and state.<\/p>\n Board member Evelyn Brooks, who was the only Republican to vote against the new required texts, said during debate Friday she believes the move is \u201cunconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTeachers need to have their autonomy. They\u2019ve been selecting books for decades, for years,\u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n The changes will begin going into effect in the 2030-2031 school year.<\/p>\n \u201cI would suspect that there\u2019s going to be growing pains, just like any change in education,\u201d said board member LJ Francis, who voted in favor of the provision.<\/p>\n Even so, he told CNN, \u201cI think we\u2019ll see the reading scores go up, and I think we\u2019ll see children just learning and loving to read again.\u201d<\/p>\n From Sunday school to public school<\/p>\n In recent years, Texas leaders have broadly eliminated studies of racial and cultural diversity while expanding the schools\u2019 abilities to introduce Christianity to students.<\/p>\n In 2023, the state became the first to allow chaplains to counsel students<\/a>, and the following year approved a measure<\/a> that offered more funding to schools that teach an optional Bible-infused elementary school curriculum. The state\u2019s education code<\/a> already requires K-12 schools to teach \u201creligious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and literature.\u201d<\/p>\n As students learn US history, supporters of the new curriculum argue Christian texts should be inseparable from lessons on the nation\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have to incorporate every religious belief in our history or in our literary works, because our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values,\u201d said Susan Perez, founder of a Christian parent advocacy group, Citizens for Education Reform, in a school board meeting Monday.<\/p>\n Perez pointed out Christian references in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, which was signed in \u201cthe Year of Our Lord\u201d 1787.<\/p>\n Under the new reading list, third-grade students will read the story, \u201cROAR! \u2013 Daniel and the Lion\u2019s Den,\u201d alongside titles like \u201cStuart Little\u201d and \u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web,\u201d according to the proposed lists online<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As students become more advanced in reading level, they will be introduced to passages directly from the Bible. Sixth-grade students will learn \u201cThe Shepherd\u2019s Psalm\u201d from the Book of Psalms<\/a> alongside religious writings from George Washington and poems by Langston Hughes and Robert Frost.<\/p>\n Several community members expressed concerns during Monday\u2019s board meeting that the plan would infringe on their autonomy as parents to oversee their children\u2019s religious education.<\/p>\n Kimmie Fink, the mother of an active-duty military family stationed in Texas, told the board, \u201cI would like to believe that my children\u2019s constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom rights will remain intact wherever we are stationed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs this not the case in Texas, a state that champions parents\u2019 rights? In Texas, parents have the fundamental legal right to direct the moral and religious upbringing of their children without state interference. The proposed literary works trample on this right,\u201d Fink added.<\/p>\n Some proponents of the curriculum changes dispute arguments that children will be explicitly taught religion, saying the Biblical passages and stories will be taught in the context of world history.<\/p>\n Board member Francis said he does not view the inclusion of Bible passages in lessons as \u201cproselytizing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we intend to do is just to introduce new or amazing kids in Texas to the wealth and breadth of a canon of Western literature,\u201d Francis told CNN on Friday after the vote.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, former public school administrator Nancy Barker argued before the board the Bible readings \u201cwill provide students with the background knowledge you will need to understand the books, the speeches, poems and important documents that have shaped our civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Not all of us believe the same\u2019<\/p>\n Board member Tiffany Clark, a Christian and Democrat who represents parts of Dallas-Fort Worth, had vocally opposed the curriculum. Clark said Thursday she and some of her Christian constituents believe \u201cBible lessons should be taught on Sundays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot all of us believe the same,\u201d Clark told CNN, noting that Christian denominations reference different translations of the Bible and at times differ in their interpretations.<\/p>\n The new curriculum mandates specific Bible translations, including the King James Bible, which is widely used by Protestant and Evangelical churches but is avoided by the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n Clark also said she fears the emphasis on Christian texts would alienate children who come from other religious backgrounds and prevent their parents from solely shaping their religious education. About a third of adults in Texas identify as non-Christian<\/a>, according to Pew Research Center surveys from 2023-2024.<\/p>\n Though parents will have the option to opt their children out of some of the required teachings, Clark said, missing lessons could impact students\u2019 test scores. Because the texts will be part of the curriculum, they could be included on standardized testing, potentially impacting the school district\u2019s test record if students do not perform well.<\/p>\n One mother who spoke before the school board Monday in support of the proposal said she believes Texas has always stood for \u201cgiving our kids the knowledge they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKeeping biblical references in our social studies standards isn\u2019t about pushing my religion, it\u2019s about giving our students a complete education here and making sure they understand the history,\u201d the mother said.<\/p>\n However, teachers may be put in a position to teach religious texts they are not familiar or comfortable with, said Rabbi Joshua Fixler with Congregation Emanu El in Houston.<\/p>\n \u201cThis list is full of Christian texts that are inappropriate for public school classrooms. As a rabbi and a parent of Jewish kids, I think it is vital that this board make a distinction between teaching about religion and teaching religion. This list will force teachers to cross that line,\u201d Fixler said.<\/p>\n The mandated literature curriculum could be a first of its kind, according to Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University education professor.<\/p>\n
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