The board of education in Texas voted on Friday to approve an elementary school curriculum with the option of introducing teachings based on the Bible in what could stretch the limits of religion in public classrooms across the U.S.
In a third-grade lesson about Thanksgiving in class, material directs the leaning teachers to pay attention to the part where the governor of Plymouth prayed and gave a speech where "he quoted a few verses from the psalms from the Christian Bible" half way through his speech. Then the teachers are said to explain to their students that Psalm is a book of songs, poems, and hymns 'found in the worship of both Jews and Christians'.
In a third-grade lesson about Thanksgiving in class, material directs the leaning teachers to pay attention to the part where the governor of Plymouth prayed and gave a speech where "he quoted a few verses from the psalms from the Christian Bible" half way through his speech. Then the teachers are said to explain to their students that Psalm is a book of songs, poems, and hymns 'found in the worship of both Jews and Christians'.
Shaw Matthew Patrick, an assistant at Vanderbilt University's Faculty of Education and Public Policy, claims that if the new curriculum is adopted, it will effectively make Texas the pilot state in the United States to incorporate biblical teachings in schools in such a way. As for the lesson plans, whether or not they will pass constitutional muster remains unclear, he stated.
The Texas Education Agency, which manages public education for more than 5 million students across the state, adopted its own instruction materials after the law sponsored in 2023 by the Republican Party-controlled legislature directing the agency to do so was signed. The lesson plans were made publicly available this past spring.
Mary Castle, the director of government relations for Texas Values, a conservative political organization, stated that there are "over 300 common day-to-day words and phrases that stem from the Bible" and that students "would enjoy being able to comprehend most of these allusions."
There were over 100 testimonies given during a board meeting this week, filled with parent, teacher, and advocate voices.
Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a member of the board who is a Democrat, observed that the inclusion of religions other than Christianity in the texts was a "fake attempt to redress the bias."
"In my view, it looks like one is trying to cover up with a band-aid on a big, festering sore," she said.
Leslie Recine is a Republican board member who had been appointed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott just a few weeks ago to serve temporarily in a board seat that had been vacant. She cast her vote in support of the curriculum. Shortly after her appointment, a Democrat who had no opponent was voted into the very same board seat to take office next year.
Texas' initiative to embed Biblical lessons within the public school curriculum is the most recent attempt by Republican leaders in power to introduce religion within education.