{"id":352271,"date":"2026-06-27T02:58:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T02:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/352271\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T02:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T02:58:30","slug":"texas-school-board-approves-required-bible-readings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/352271\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas school board approves required Bible readings"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0Texas’ education board on Friday approved a required reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes Bible stories, widening conservative efforts to bring Christian teachings into U.S. classrooms.<\/p>\n

Not long after, the board also approved\u00a0new social studies curriculum standards for public school students in grades K-5, according to a post on X<\/a> from Community Impact reporter Hannah Norton. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., social studies\u00a0curriculum for sixth grade through eighth grade received approval.<\/p>\n

The State Board of Education then went on break with plans to return for discussion about high school social studies\u00a0curriculum. However, the Texas Tribune<\/a> reported that “the board postponed changes to four high school courses, which members will vote on at a future meeting.”<\/p>\n

The state-mandated list of assigned reading \u2014 which includes Charles Dickens\u2019 \u201cGreat Expectations\u201d and excerpts from the New Testament \u2014 appeared to be among the first of its kind of the nation and will take effect starting in 2030.<\/p>\n

The State Board of Education, which is controlled by Republicans, approved the list on a 9-5 vote following weeks of contentious debate that again put Texas at the center of wrangling over the role of religion in public schools. Last year, Texas became the largest state to require teachers to hang the Ten Commandments in every classroom.<\/p>\n

The board this week was also considering new social studies curriculum that draws lines between Bible stories and American history.<\/p>\n

Beyond objections over Bible readings, the mandate drew backlash from teachers who criticized losing the ability to decide what their students will read, although they are still allowed to assign additional books during the school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a problem reading about David and Goliath because I believe in those stories,\u201d said Alyse Dent, a high school English teacher in the Dallas area. “But if I\u2019m reading to one of my students \u2014 they\u2019re Muslim or they\u2019re atheist \u2014 I can say all day long, \u2018Well, we\u2019re teaching a theme, we\u2019re teaching symbolism,\u2019 but they\u2019re hearing, \u2018This is a Bible story. We\u2019re talking about God.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the changes have argued that Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation\u2019s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum. Brandon Hall, a Republican education board member, trumpeted the approval of Bible readings as \u201cHISTORIC\u201d on social media moments after the vote.<\/p>\n

Texas has brought more religion into classrooms<\/p>\n

Texas, which educates roughly 1 in 10 of the nation\u2019s public school students, has been at the forefront of a charge by conservatives to incorporate more religion into classrooms. The state also allows public schools to hire chaplains to counsel students and has approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum.<\/p>\n

Brooke Mazel, a retiree from Lubbock, was among a large crowd that packed a meeting of the education board this week in Austin, saying her children and grandchildren grew up with \u201cstrong faith and family values\u201d and backed the required titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica should celebrate our 250 years that started as a nation of unwavering Christian values,\u201d Mazel said.<\/p>\n

A state law<\/a> passed in 2023 required a mandatory list of at least one literary work be taught in each grade level. The new list contains around 200 texts, including Bible passages, essays and books, far in excess of that requirement.<\/p>\n

Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he doesn\u2019t know of any other state with a mandatory reading list that includes religious texts. Educators at the district and school level usually choose the texts their students will read, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America\u2019s Freedom to Read program, agreed the move was \u201cunique\u201d to Texas.<\/p>\n

Popular literary works are also on Texas’ required list<\/p>\n

Picture-book stories for elementary students including \u201cDavid and Goliath\u201d and \u201cDaniel and the Lion\u2019s Den\u201d are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students will encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament. E.B. White’s \u201cCharlotte’s Web\u201d would be assigned to third-graders.<\/p>\n

In middle school, students will be expected to read passages about Jesus, including his most famous sermon and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

For high schoolers, the list requires the reading of specific Bible passages as supportive materials for literary works, including works by Dickens and Jane Austen’s \u201cPride and Prejudice.”<\/p>\n

Critics say list isn’t diverse enough<\/p>\n

The list mandates that students reading Shakespeare’s \u201cThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar” also read a eulogy for President Ronald Reagan written by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a staunch conservative.<\/p>\n

Chanea Bond, who teaches college and advanced high school English courses in Fort Worth, said having a state reading list can close the gap between what students learn in different areas. Although the list for high schoolers is \u201cpretty solid\u201d for a study of classics, she said, the list is \u201cvery old and very white.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very narrow and does not represent what classrooms in Texas look like,\u201d she said. \u201cGoing through most of high school without ever having much value put into voices that sound like yours kind of sends a message that your voices aren\u2019t valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0Texas’ education board on Friday approved a required reading list for more than 5 million public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[836,1658,2160,557,132,134,133,102,163,223,287,82,13214,27,2053],"class_list":["post-352271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-app-education","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-associated-press","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-dallas","tag-education","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-antonio","tag-spectrum-news-staff","tag-texas","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352271","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=352271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}