The Texas State Board of Education is weighing changes to the state’s English curriculum that would put readings from the Bible on a new required reading list for public schools.
Also on the table is an overhaul of the state social studies curriculum, which would refocus classes on U.S. and Texas history.
Sarah Mervosh, who reports on education for the New York Times, said the Bible passages have been the main sticking point during discussions about these proposed changes.
“This would be passages from the Bible, such as readings from 1 Corinthians on the meaning of love, Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath… Stories that advocates see as really relevant to American culture and understanding symbolism and references in American life,” she said.
But some critics at a State Board of Education meeting this week said public schools should only teach Bible passages as part of a class specifically about religion.
“We heard from religious groups, a rabbi testified, some Jewish groups testified saying that the Bible should be included as part of a comparative religion class, for example, or not at all,” Mervosh said. “One student actually put it, I thought, quite succinctly when she said that public schools should teach no religion or all religions.”
Mervosh said the issue of representation and diversity on the list also came up during the meeting.
“You know, are there enough Hispanic and Black authors in a state where Hispanic and Black children make up more than half of public school students?” she said.
» GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE: Sign up for Texas Standard’s weekly newsletters
Critics also worry that the changes to the social studies curriculum promotes a view of American exceptionalism and glosses over important history from other regions.
“Right now they’re considering a proposal that would put much more of an emphasis on Texas and U.S. history,” Mervosh said. “It’s part of this similar movement to include what critics would say is more of an American exceptionalism view and sort of a one story of America and all culminating with America and the foundation of Texas. And then supporters would say that this is part of a classical approach to education and that all of this is important for understanding the foundation of America.”
In many ways, these proposed changes dovetail with a broader push within the Republican Party to focus on Christian values in public education — a push that Mervosh said includes legislation in Texas and beyond to include the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
“We also have the 250th anniversary of American independence coming this summer. President Trump has invested a lot of money into both that celebration as well as civics and history education,” she said. “A big part of that does include a focus on founding fathers, a focus on the Judeo-Christian values that influenced the founding of the United States. And so this does fit into this broader picture.”
Whatever the State Board of Education decides, Mervosh expects there to be a ripple effect beyond Texas.
“Not only does Texas have about 10 percent of all public school students in the United States, so that is just from a sheer number standpoint, we’re talking about how U.S. students are educated — one in 10 students living in Texas…” she said. “But then also, because it’s the nation’s largest Republican-led state, it can have quite an influence on other states, both in terms of textbook publishers — textbook publishers trying to make sure that their materials can be used in Texas, but also just politically and setting an agenda and setting what is possible for other states.”
The State Board of Education is expected to take a preliminary vote on this issue later this week.
“Then the board is responsible for sort of reconciling some of these debates and they’re going to put forth their proposal and there will be a final vote later in June,” Mervosh said. “Whatever changes are made will go into effect starting in 2030.”
If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.