State education leaders will decide on Friday whether Bible lessons will be taught in Texas public schools — testing boundaries between religion and public education in the U.S.
If passed, the plan would give schools the option to incorporate Bible teachings into the curriculum for kindergarten through 5th grade students across the state. Lessons like the Golden Rule — treat others the way you want to be treated — as well as stories from the book Genesis would be part of the teachings.
The plan narrowly passed in a preliminary Texas State Board of Education vote earlier this week, 8 to 7. The elected members heard hours of sometimes impassioned pleas from both supporters and critics over the material that schools could begin using next year.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Texas Board of Education approves initial vote for biblical lessons in textbooks
The State Board of Education took a preliminary vote on adding biblical lessons that could come to public elementary schools. The curriculum wouldn’t be required but comes with an incentive.
The 15-member board consists of 11 Republicans and four Democrats.
If a school opts into the new curriculum, additional funding would be provided by the sate. It passed, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in public schools.
Critics of the plan say incorporating Christianity into the classroom could alienate other students.
“What I fear is that these developments, particularly promoting one religious tradition over others in the public schools, risks turning non-Christians and non-religious people and also Christians who are not evangelical into outsiders in their own public schools,” said David Brockman with the Baker Institute’s Religion and Public Policy Program. “If that happens, that would be a very sad day for Texans and the United States.”
Texas’ plans to implement Biblical teachings in public school lesson plans is the latest effort by Republican-controlled states to bring religion into the classroom.
In Louisiana, a law to place the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue.
In Oklahoma, the state’s top education official has tried to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in fifth through 12th grades. A group of teachers and parents recently filed a lawsuit to stop the Republican state superintendent’s plan and his efforts to spend $3 million to purchase Bibles for public schools.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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