Overview
- The Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education is scheduled to hold a final vote Friday on a proposed required reading list that would obligate more than 5 million public school students to study selected Bible stories and passages.
- The proposal spells out grade-level selections from picture-book retellings for elementary students to New Testament passages in middle school and Genesis, Job and parables in high school, and if adopted would take effect in the 2030–31 school year.
- Critics say the list privileges Christianity by relying heavily on the King James Bible and recent evangelical translations, excludes texts from other religious traditions, and raises separation-of-church-and-state concerns that civil-rights groups say will lead to lawsuits.
- Teachers and district leaders warn the roughly 200-title list is unusually prescriptive, would limit local control over classroom texts, could force teachers to teach material they find unfamiliar, and may affect testing or accountability if required texts appear on assessments.
- The vote follows a string of recent Texas moves to expand religion in schools — including allowing chaplains, an optional Bible-infused curriculum, and a mandated Ten Commandments display — and the outcome is expected to draw national attention and legal challenges.