In what appears to be a national first, Texas students will be required to read Bible passages as part of a new statewide reading list.<\/p>\n
The State Board of Education gave final approval to updated Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills \u2013 known as TEKS \u2013 on Friday, capping off a week of meetings and often tense public discussion. The board also approved rewritten K-8 social studies lessons that narrow the view of history from a global one to a focus on U.S. and Texas history.<\/p>\n
The state will begin rolling out the new standards beginning in the 2030-31 school year.<\/p>\n
The literacy TEKS typically includes Shakespeare and Sophocles. Now there\u2019ll also be Psalm 23 and the Prodigal Son \u2013 the King James version.<\/p>\n
State Board of Education District 2 representative Brandon Hall, from Aledo, northwest of Fort Worth, is one of 10 Republicans on the 15-member elected board. The pastor championed the inclusion of Bible passages and Christian stories as a valuable reflection of American culture and what he wants every Texas student to learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica and Texas have been a Christian nation and a Christian state forever,\u201d Hall said. \u201cAnd this is why, you know, the proportion of the impact they\u2019ve had is why they\u2019re included. Of course, there are other faiths that are represented, but they\u2019ve had a minimal impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearly 500 people signed up to offer testimony for or against the new social studies and reading curriculum. The lists add at least one Bible passage to each grade\u2019s required reading starting in the first grade.<\/p>\n
Kim Middleton, from Lubbock, spoke in support of the board\u2019s efforts, saying students need to learn those biblical references.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet’s pick back up our Bibles and allow our Judeo-Christian foundations to shine bright in our classrooms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Opponents of the changes say they emphasize Christianity over other religions and misrepresent history.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Joshua Fixler said he\u2019s worried his children won\u2019t learn as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposed list provides only Christian religious texts, and it does so in ways that are not age appropriate,\u201d he told the board. \u201cFor example, my fourth grader would have to read three religious texts. All three center on Christian messages of faith and theology to which my family does not ascribe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teaching about religion<\/p>\n
Fixler said there\u2019s a difference between teaching religion, and teaching about religion. Inserting Bible passages, he said, will put teachers in a tough spot.<\/p>\n
Carisa Lopez, deputy director of the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network, said religion \u201cabsolutely has a place in education\u201d if it\u2019s taught without bias toward any particular religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cReligions of all types have made a very big impact on history and our culture,\u201d she told KERA Friday. \u201cHowever, if we are going to be teaching Christianity, a very particular type of Christianity, in a way that is biased, that belongs at home, and that belongs in the religious institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not belong in Texas public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nancy Barker, a retired teacher, praised the state’s approach.<\/p>\n
“I believe including biblical references is appropriate because they are being used as literary and historical content rather than for religious instruction,” she told the board on Monday.<\/p>\n
Much of the week\u2019s debate centered on how Islam is portrayed in the updated social studies curriculum. The board earlier this year removed a TEKS standard that taught about \u201cMuslim contributions to algebra and astronomy,\u201d the Texas Tribune reported<\/a>, and new standards would require students to learn about the 9\/11 \u201cterrorist attacks motivated by radical Islam\u201d and the \u201crise of radical Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n Board members on Thursday decided to delay adoption of some high school social studies lessons after making amendments throughout the week, but will likely take them up again in September.<\/p>\n Attorney Niloufar Hafizi, who identified as an Iranian-American Muslim, said she sees in the social studies lessons about Muslims a \u201csubtext telling students whose histories, which civilizations, and ultimately which people count.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than present balanced and accurate standards, the proposed TEKS tell a selective narrative that elevates Protestant Christianity and Western civilization while downplaying other religions and civilizations and their contributions to humankind,” she testified Monday.<\/p>\n She said Islam is inaccurately viewed as a warring religion.<\/p>\n Southern Methodist University religious studies professor Mark Chancey, who in 2024 testified against biblical references included in the state\u2019s optional Bluebonnet curriculum<\/a>, called the social studies lessons a \u201cdouble standard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a wholly negative view of Islam as a religion,\u201d he said. \u201cMuslim conquests of lands are treated as religiously oriented violence. Christian conquests of lands go uncommented.\u201d<\/p>\n Anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on the rise in Texas. A proposed Muslim-centric housing development in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties is the subject of a number of state investigations<\/a> that critics say unfairly target North Texas Muslims, and a recent planned Eid celebration in Grand Prairie was cancelled<\/a> after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold state funding, saying the event violated a state law banning \u201cMuslim no-go zones.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n At the same time, lawmakers have allowed more Christianity in schools and classrooms in recent years, allowing districts to bring chaplains in to serve as school counselors<\/a> and establish designated prayer periods<\/a> during schooldays. In April an appeals court ruled Texas can enforce a law requiring classrooms to display copies of the Ten Commandments<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chancey said the curriculum changes also \u201cprivilege\u201d Christianity.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that we have a particular ideological agenda that is at play here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bill Zeeble is KERA\u2019s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at\u00a0bzeeble@kera.org<\/a>. You can follow him on X\u00a0@bzeeble<\/a>.<\/p>\n KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider\u00a0making a tax-deductible gift today<\/a>. Thank you.<\/p>\n