Texas education officials to vote on use of Bible in public school curriculum

Source: The Guardian

Mon 18 Nov 2024 16.54 EST
Last modified on Mon 18 Nov 2024 16.57 EST


Texas education officials are expected to hold a vote on Monday on the use of Bible readings in the public school curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade English and language arts classes. The board listened to hours of testimonies from those for and against “Bluebonnet learning”, a new curriculum that will affect millions of the state’s elementary public school students.

Those in favor of a Bible-infused curriculum argue that the holy book contextualizes material about famous artworks or texts like Leonardo da Vinci’s mural painting The Last Supper and Dr Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Specifically, as the New York Times notes, The Last Supper would be taught to fifth-grade students through an account of the final meal shared by Jesus and his 12 disciples. The lesson would also involve several verses from the Gospel of Matthew.

In the instance of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, King uses biblical characters in his letter to clergymen around the south. Advocates for this curriculum argue that students would need biblical context to comprehend the letter. The Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog organization which advocates for religious freedom, individual liberties and public education, opposes the curriculum on the grounds that it is biased towards one religion, Christianity.

Carisa Lopez, deputy director of Texas Freedom Network, spoke out against the curriculum during a hearing in September, saying: “Teaching about the influence of religion in history and culture is an important part of a well-rounded education, but you can’t turn public schools into Sunday schools. This is fundamentally a question of respect for religious freedom. Public schools can’t favor one particular religion and promote religious beliefs many students and their families simply don’t share.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/18/texas-bible-school-curriculum