{"id":832007,"date":"2026-08-31T15:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/832007\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:02:10","slug":"san-antonio-isd-students-begin-bluebonnet-learning-which-critics-have-described-as-controversial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/832007\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio ISD students begin Bluebonnet Learning, which critics have described as controversial"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio ISD students are two weeks into a new school year. At some elementary schools, they are navigating a new curriculum<\/a> that critics call \u201cBible-infused<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

The state-endorsed teaching materials are known as Bluebonnet Learning. <\/p>\n

San Antonio ISD is following South San ISD which implemented Bluebonnet Learning last year<\/a>. <\/p>\n

South San ISD Superintendent Dr. Saul Hinojosa said he worked with a committee to review the curriculum before it was taught in the district\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was anything that the committee felt was inappropriate by their standards, they took a vote, and we took their feedback and put it into action,\u201d Hinojosa said.<\/p>\n

South San ISD pulls readings with religious focus<\/p>\n

Among the changes, South San ISD removed or modified several readings from the curriculum because of their focus on religion. <\/p>\n

For example, in Lesson 7 for fourth-grade reading and language arts, one chapter addresses how the church was important to people in the Middle Ages and shaped their culture. <\/p>\n

The district removed the reading because it \u201cappears to advance religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinojosa said the curriculum is producing results. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know when you implement a new curriculum, normally, you have regression because teachers are just learning that particular curriculum,\u201d Hinojosa said. \u201cWe saw improvements in every grade level when you look at literacy, which is attributed to the hard work of our teachers and administrators.\u201d<\/p>\n

South San ISD boosted its TEA accountability rating<\/a> from a \u201cD\u201d to a \u201cC\u201d over the past school year. When asked whether that progress is tied to Bluebonnet Learning, Hinojosa didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely. I mean, your curriculum is a driving force,\u201d Hinojosa said.<\/p>\n

Texas expands religion\u2019s role in public schools<\/p>\n

Bluebonnet Learning is not the only way Texas is expanding the role of religion in public schools. <\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law last year requiring districts to display the Ten Commandments<\/a> if they are donated.<\/p>\n

San Antonio ISD did not respond to four interview requests about how it plans to implement the curriculum. <\/p>\n

At a previous board meeting, however, school officials said they plan to modify the curriculum as needed.<\/p>\n

More recent education coverage on KSAT: <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio ISD students are two weeks into a new school year. At some elementary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,526,451,3,6999,352344,352345,452,453],"class_list":["post-832007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-isd","tag-south-san-isd","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}