Texas Board Approves Scripture Reading List for All Public School Students

The Republican-controlled State Board of Education approved a mandate Friday afternoon requiring scripture passages on every public school reading list. The 9-5-1 vote covers 5.5 million students across all public and charter campuses. Elementary grades will receive the requirement first in the 2030-31 school year.

Younger children will read picture-book versions of David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, and Jonah and the Whale.

By fourth grade students reach New Testament passages about Jesus, and middle schoolers cover several more. The board folded the verses into a list of roughly 200 texts that also includes secular staples such as Charlotte’s Web and Great Expectations.

Two education experts told one outlet that Texas appears to be the first state to dictate a literary canon for every student rather than leave those picks to teachers.

Reactions and Context One Republican broke ranks.

Evelyn Brooks of Frisco questioned a state-imposed reading list and called the mandate unconstitutional, noting that teachers have chosen their own classroom books for decades. Outside groups went further. “Texas is telling millions of children that one religion deserves the government’s seal of approval, while everyone else is an afterthought,” Freedom From Religion Foundation president Annie Laurie Gaylor told the Houston Chronicle.

The vote extends a run of Christian-themed policy out of Texas. The state already requires the Ten Commandments in every classroom and has rolled out an optional Bible-infused curriculum. Board members approved a companion rewrite of K-8 social studies the same day, cutting a World Cultures course and expanding lessons on communism.

High school standards were tabled until September. Houston ISD’s state-appointed board of managers on Thursday approved the district’s use of the state’s Bluebonnet learning materials, which has drawn controversy for its incorporation of Bible teachings.