Texas Officials Vote to Allow Bible-Based Lessons in Elementary Schools
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Bible-based lessons are now allowed in Texas elementary schools, and may be implemented in 2025.
The Texas Board of Education voted 8 to 7 on Friday to allow the curriculum in the classrooms, NBC News reported.
The article noted, “The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to implement, but they will receive additional funding if they do so.”
The NBC article continued:
The Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education for students statewide, created its instruction materials after a law passed in 2023 by the GOP-controlled Legislature required the agency to do so. The lesson plans were publicly released this spring.
Texas has over five million public school students, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday. The outlet said that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said the vote was “a critical step forward to bring students back to the basics of education and provide the best education in the nation.”
The AP report also detailed some of the learning materials:
In the newly approved kindergarten materials, one lesson on helping one’s neighbor instructs teachers to talk about the Golden Rule using lessons from the Bible. It also instructs the teachers to explain that the Bible is “a collection of ancient texts” and that its different parts are “the core books of the Jewish and Christian religions.”
In a third-grade lesson about the first Thanksgiving, the material directs teachers to discuss how the governor of Plymouth said a prayer and gave a speech that included references to “several passages from the Christian Bible in the book of Psalms.” Teachers are then instructed to tell students the book of Psalms is a collection of songs, poems and hymns “that are used in both Jewish and Christian worship.”
Oklahoma recently began requiring schools to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, to students in grades 5 through 12, per Breitbart News.
In his memo to all districts, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said:
The Bible is one of the most historically significant books and a cornerstone of Western civilization, along with the Ten Commandments. They will be referenced as an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like, as well as for their substantial influence on our nation’s founders and the foundational principles of our Constitution. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, took aim at a state law mandating posters of the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms, saying on November 12 that it is “unconstitutional,” and ordering officials not to enforce it, AP reported.
However, that decision will be appealed, the outlet continued. “Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill said she disagreed with the ruling and said her office would ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to quickly stay the ruling pending appeal.”
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