Texas State Board Approves Bible Stories As Required Reading For Five Million Students Starting 2030

The Texas State Board of Education approved plans to make Bible stories required reading for all five million public school students in Texas, with the rollout beginning in 2030.

“The Texas State Board of Education has voted to make Bible passages required reading in public schools”

ABC News

The BBC said the panel approved the measure in a 9-5 vote with one Republican joining Democrats to vote against it, and Brandon Hall told reporters, "We are bringing the Bible back into schools this week for the first time in 60 years."

ABC News

The AP reported that the vote Friday by the Republican-controlled board reflects a broader conservative effort to introduce more religion into U.S. schools, and it said the mandated reading list will begin taking effect in 2030.

The required list includes picture-book stories such as "David and Goliath" and "Daniel and the Lion’s Den," and by fourth grade students will encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament, according to the AP.

Critics argued the new requirements violate the constitutional separation of church and state and lack diversity, and the BBC reported that Felicia Martin said the reading list "centres Christianity above all other religious faiths and traditions".

The BBC also quoted Clare Haefner of the Texas Classroom Teachers Association warning that "Texas teachers have expressed concerns about the length of the list and the potential loss of teacher autonomy".

AP News

In the AP’s account, Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the education board during testimony, "We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that."

The AP said one proposed Bible story about Noah’s Ark was removed from a list of first-grade titles after a board member said it only had one page of text and voiced objections to descriptions of animals killed in the flood.

Supporters framed the mandate as reflecting Judeo-Christian traditions they say were essential to the nation’s founding, and the BBC reported Brandon Hall’s statement that the board was bringing the Bible back after 60 years.

“Religion row as Texas makes Bible stories required reading in schools A Texas education panel has approved plans to make Bible stories mandatory for all five million public school students in the state, sparking a row about separation of church and state”

BBC

The NBC News account said the Texas board approved the list over critics who argued the titles lack diversity and blur the separation of church and state enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and it described the proposal as a departure from letting schools or teachers decide what students read.

The AP reported that Texas last year became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments, and it said President Donald Trump pledged to protect and expand religious expression in public schools nationwide.

The AP also reported that Texas has about 5.5 million public school students from kindergarten through high school, and it said the mandated reading list will begin taking effect in 2030.