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Texas Board to Vote on Bible Stories as Required Reading for 5.5 Million Students
The Texas State Board of Education is scheduled to vote Friday on a proposal that would add Bible stories to required reading lists for public school students. The measure would take effect in 2030 if approved.
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The plan would require kindergarten through high school students to read specific Bible passages, including stories such as Noah’s Ark and David and Goliath for younger students and New Testament passages about Jesus for older students.
A federal appeals court upheld that requirement. The state also became the first to allow chaplains in schools for student counseling and later approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary grades.
The required list would include passages from the King James Bible and recent evangelical translations. High school students would read the parable of the prodigal son, portions of the Book of Job, and the story of Adam and Eve. A middle school reading would link the Book of Lamentations to texts about the Holocaust.
The measure would affect approximately 5.5 million students and take effect in 2030. Susan Perez, founder of the Citizens for Education Reform, told the board that the curriculum should reflect the nation’s founding principles without apology. Frank Strong, an English and journalism teacher and co-founder of Texas Freedom to Read, said the absence of texts from other religious traditions is disturbing.
Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English, said he is unaware of any other state with a mandated religious reading list. Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said the proposal differs from the advisory or suggested lists used elsewhere.
