Texas Board Votes on Bible Stories as Required School Reading

The Texas State Board of Education is poised to vote Friday on a controversial proposal that would make Bible stories and Christian religious passages required reading for more than 5.5 million public school students across the state, reigniting a fierce national debate over the role of religion in public education.

The proposal, which received preliminary approval on Tuesday, would mandate specific Bible translations and passages from kindergarten through 12th grade. If approved, the changes would take effect in the 2030-31 school year, according to AP News. The reading list is paired with a dramatic rewrite of K-8 social studies standards that critics say minimizes racial, cultural, and religious diversity.

What the Reading List Includes

The proposed reading list requires students as young as 6 to study picture-book Bible stories including “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” — the latter supplied by the Christian Broadcasting Network, a media company founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. By fourth grade, students would encounter New Testament passages about Jesus, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune.

Middle school students would study the Eight Beatitudes and passages from Matthew, while high schoolers would read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, multiple chapters from the Book of Job, 1 Corinthians 13, Genesis 2, Ecclesiastes 3, and Psalm 23. The proposal mandates specific translations — the New International Readers Version (NIRV), King James Version (KJV), and English Standard Version (ESV) — all of which are Protestant translations.

Constitutional and Legal Concerns

Critics argue the proposal violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by promoting Christianity over other religions. The mandated use of Protestant-specific translations and the absence of texts from other faith traditions are central to this argument.

“Public schools have a duty to prepare students to participate in civic life, not to advance a particular religious viewpoint,” said Rabbi David Segal, policy counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, as reported by the Texas Freedom Network. “Teaching about religion has always been appropriate in public education, but what we are seeing here verges on state-sanctioned religious instruction.”

Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a Democratic member of the education board, said, “So there really isn’t, in my view, a good justification for trying to turn our public schools into Sunday schools.”

Supporters’ Arguments

Supporters of the proposal say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and should be reflected in public school curriculum. Julie Pickren, a Republican SBOE member, said the readings provide “important insight into the moral and philosophical traditions that have shaped Western civilization.”

“A classical approach to education, one that emphasizes the careful study of primary historical documents, plays a vital role in developing strong critical thinking skills in students,” Pickren said.

Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the board, “We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that. It is the truth and we should not be afraid.”

Broader Context: A National Trend

This proposal is part of a larger trend in Texas and nationally. In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow chaplains in public schools. In 2024, the board approved an optional Bible-infused elementary curriculum. In 2025, Texas became the largest state to require Ten Commandments displays in every classroom, a measure recently upheld by a federal appeals court, as AP News reported.

The push comes amid a broader national movement of conservative states integrating more religion into public education, including Louisiana’s requirement to display the Ten Commandments and Oklahoma’s attempt to mandate Bible instruction.

Social Studies Overhaul

The reading list is paired with a concurrent overhaul of K-8 social studies standards that has drawn sharp criticism. The proposed changes eliminate the current sixth-grade world cultures course, deemphasize non-European world history, and focus more on Texas and the United States, according to the Texas Tribune via KWBU.

Critics point to several controversial changes: the removal of requirements to study “the impact of race and ethnicity on society,” the renaming of the “Tulsa Race Massacre” to “Tulsa Race Riots,” and the initial omission of Martin Luther King Jr. from Civil Rights leaders (later re-added). One lesson originally described Japanese American incarceration during World War II as a “contribution” to the war effort, later changed to “changes.”

Heated Public Hearings

The board heard nearly 500 people testify this week in hearings that at several points turned contentious. Muslim advocates denounced what they described as Islamophobic rhetoric at the meetings. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, testified that “Islam is not a religion” but a “totalitarian theocracy,” drawing condemnation from advocacy groups.

“These proposed standards actually defy the Constitution and highlight only one group of Americans as the founders who built this country to the exclusion of others — both in the past and in the present,” Ruth Nasrullah, a Muslim speaker, told board members, as reported by KWBU.

Impact on Teachers and Local Control

English teachers have stressed that many books on the proposed reading list do not align with what Texas requires them to teach, despite taking up most of roughly 36 weeks of instructional time in an academic year. Carisa Lopez, deputy director of the Texas Freedom Network, warned that the list “tosses aside local control and makes it harder or even impossible for teachers to tailor instruction in ways that are appropriate for their students.”

What’s Next

The final vote is expected Friday, June 26. If approved, the K-8 reading list and social studies changes would take effect in the 2030-31 school year. The board delayed proposed changes to high school U.S. history, world history, geography and government, which could be taken up at its next scheduled meeting in September or at a special meeting called by the chair.

Legal challenges are widely expected if the proposal passes. Organizations including the Texas Freedom Network, the ACLU, and other civil liberties groups are likely to file lawsuits arguing the mandate violates the Establishment Clause. Given Texas’s outsized influence on textbook publishing and curriculum standards nationwide, the outcome of this vote could have implications far beyond the state’s borders.