The Texas Board of Education approved a mandated reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes passages from the Bible. Approved in a 9-5 vote with one member absent, the new requirements are scheduled to begin in 2030. This initiative is part of a larger effort by leaders to infuse the education system with conservative and religious ideals.
The decision follows a previous mandate requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools, a move that was upheld by a federal appeals court. While the required reading list includes Bible stories, it is wide-ranging and features other classical texts such as Aesop's fables, tales about Native Americans, and children's versions of Don Quixote. However, some critics have noted that much of the list consists of texts written by white male authors in a state with a majority of Latino and Black students.
Supporters of the measures argue that they restore historically significant Judeo-Christian teachings to school systems. Conversely, critics say that mandating Bible reading breaches the Constitution's establishment clause and the separation of church and state. Rachel Laser, the head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, stated that the decision seeks to misuse public schools to impose one narrow set of religious beliefs and indoctrinate a new generation of Americans in the lie that America is a Christian country.