Texas education officials vote to back optional Bible lessons for K-5 classes: Reports

In a preliminary vote on Tuesday, Texas education officials approved a proposal to allow lessons about the Bible into public school classrooms, according to multiple news reports.

The state Board of Education voted 8-7 to adopt standards that would teach biblical lessons to students kindergarten through fifth grade, The New York Times reported.

Critics have said the material disproportionately focuses on Christianity, only briefly mentioning other religions such as Judaism or Islam.

While schools will not be required to take on the curriculum, they will get an extra $60 per student in funding if they do so.

The final board vote to officially implement the new curriculum will take place on Friday, according to The Texas Tribune.

“Texas AFT [American Federation of Teachers] believes that not only do these materials violate the separation of church and state and the academic freedom of our classroom, but also the sanctity of the teaching profession. These prescriptive materials cannot meet all learners in all contexts, and teachers must be empowered to adapt to the needs of their students,” the group said in a statement.

The state Board of Education heard testimony from 150 people on Monday for eight hours, both in support and against the new curriculum.

“Just reading some of the passages from the Bible will not cause someone to convert, as many Biblical scholars are not themselves Christian,” supporter Glenn Melvin said during the testimony, local outlet WPSD reported.

The new revisions focus on K through 5 reading and English classes and were structured around the state-level Bluebonnet Learning.

The Texas Freedom Network, which focuses on religious freedom, released a report saying they do not support the standards.

The group said the problems with the material are “systemic—especially the curriculum’s ‘Bible-infused’ character and resulting religious imbalance—and require a thorough overhaul rather than piecemeal revision."

“The BB version still verges on Christian proselytism insofar as its extensive, lopsided coverage of Christianity and the Bible suggests that this is the only religious tradition of any importance. That is not a message that Texas public schools, which are called to serve a religiously diverse population, have any business conveying,” the report added.

The move has been in development for months and comes after Texas became the first state to allow religious chaplains in schools.

Earlier this year, neighboring Oklahoma issued an education mandate ordering that biblical lessons be incorporated into public school curricula. That measure has been challenged in court.

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