The Texas Board of Education (SBOE) on Friday approved a voluntary Bible-centered curriculum for elementary schools. The curriculum was passed with the following results 8-7 Republican majority.
the board approved this bluebonnet learning This material provides a curriculum for teaching mathematics to students in kindergarten through 8th grade and language arts to students in kindergarten through 5th grade. Biblical content is included in the language arts materials.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for the group Texas Values, supported the decision, saying:
I am pleased with the SBOE’s decision today to respect the First Amendment rights of students to study Biblical references to deepen their understanding of the history and literature of the Western world. These materials were attacked for the sole purpose of completely erasing all references to religion and the Bible from classrooms, creating a hostile environment for free speech.
However, the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) denounced the board’s approval, calling the content “inappropriate.” “We are thrilled to have the Texas AFT President, Zeff Capo, president of AFT Texas.
This is the latest evidence that Christian nationalists are infiltrating every governing body of the nation, including the SBOE. And they don’t stop at inserting Bible content into English textbooks. Whether it’s erasing the contributions of marginalized people in social studies or minimizing climate change in science, we can predict what will happen next.
approval of The curriculum followed Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s signature. House Bill (HB) 1605 To the law. The law does not require school districts to use state-approved materials, but states that districts that use them are entitled to additional state funding.
Texas, along with neighboring Louisiana and Louisiana, is joining a broader trend to include more Christian-focused educational materials in public schools. oklahoma. Earlier this month, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked a Louisiana law requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. A federal appeals court subsequently temporarily lifted that injunction, ensuring that the lower court’s order applied only to the school board defendant schools. In October, a coalition of parents, teachers, faith leaders, and civil rights organizations lawsuit He filed a lawsuit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court against Oklahoma state officials to block the mandatory Bible curriculum.
