Texas has crossed a significant line in public education policy. The state's Republican-controlled board of education voted Friday to mandate Bible passages as required reading for millions of schoolchildren, marking an unprecedented expansion of religious instruction in public classrooms.
Beginning in 2030 with elementary students, the curriculum will require specific biblical excerpts at every grade level. By middle school, students will read selections from the Book of Jonah and Psalms. High school students will encounter Genesis, Lamentations, and other Old Testament passages alongside traditional academic texts.
The mandate stems from a 2023 state law that required education officials to designate literary works for each grade. The board interpreted this broadly, recommending multiple texts per grade and including scripture as core selections. Teachers can assign other books, but only in addition to these required readings, not instead of them.
The move puts Texas at the forefront of a nationwide push to expand religion's footprint in public schools. Last year, the state became the first major one to require Ten Commandments displays in every classroom. Earlier this year, President Trump pledged to protect prayer in public schools, signaling federal support for similar efforts.
Opposition has been swift and pointed. Critics argue the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state and tilts heavily toward Christianity. They also note the curriculum emphasizes older works by predominantly white male authors in a state where over half of public school students are Hispanic or Black. Supporters counter that Judeo-Christian traditions shaped American founding principles and deserve classroom representation.
The timing matters. Texas educates roughly one in ten American public school students, giving its policies outsized influence on textbook publishers and other state curricula. Any shift in how Texas approaches education tends to ripple across the country.
Author James Rodriguez: "This isn't about teaching literature or history anymore, it's about using state power to push a specific religious worldview into every child's classroom."
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