A majority of the Texas State Board of Education gave final ap proval Friday to a state-authored curriculum that heavily includes biblical teachings.
Eight of the 15 board members approved Bluebonnet Learning, the elementary school curriculum proposed by the Texas Education Agency. Leslie Recine, a Republican whom Gov.
Greg Abbott appointed to tempo- rarily fill the board's District 13 seat vacated by former member Aicha Davis, voted in favor of the curriculum. This month, voters elected Democrat Tiffany Clark to fill Davis' seat. Clark said she would’ve voted against the curriculum.
What’s in the state curriculum? Teachings within the curriculum include lessons that touch on stories of the Bible, like the Good Samaritan, the Ten Commandments and the Last Supper.
For example, the story of the Good Samaritan would be used in a lesson for kindergartners as an example of what it means to follow the Golden Rule.
The curriculum, which was designed with a cross-disciplinary approach, uses reading and language art lessons to advance concepts in other disciplines like history and social studies.
Are school districts required to adopt the curriculum? No.
However, districts that do adopt the materials will receive an incentive of $60 per student, which could appeal to districts strug- gling financially because there hasn't been a significant increase in school funding from the state.
What are proponents and critics saying? Proponents say references to Christianity will help to provide students with a better understanding of the country’s history. “In my view, these stories are on the education side and are establishing cultural literacy,” Houston Republican Will Hickman said.
Those against the curriculum have argued that the materials could inappropriately force Christianity on public school children and that it may violate the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits states from endorsing a particular religion. “If this is the standard for students in Texas, then it needs to be exactly that,” said Staci Childs, a Houston Democrat. “It needs to be high quality, and it needs to be the standard, free of any Establishment Clause issues, free of any lies, and it needs to be accurate.”
