The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to approve a new statewide reading list that will make Bible passages required reading for more than 5 million public school students, according to the Guardian. The Republican-controlled board’s decision finalizes a plan that has drawn sharp criticism from opponents who say it breaches the constitutional separation of church and state.
Last year, Texas became the largest state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom. The new reading list stems from a 2023 Texas law that directed state education officials to designate at least one literary work for every grade level, with the board expanding that mandate by recommending multiple texts for each grade. While teachers may still assign books outside the list, they must do so in addition to the required selections.
The rollout will be staggered, beginning with elementary school students in 2030. Bible passages will be required reading for middle and high school grades under the list approved Friday, according to the Guardian.
Supporters of the measure argue that Judeo-Christian traditions played a central role in the country’s founding and should be represented in public school instruction. Opponents counter that the mandate gives preference to Christianity over other faiths and lacks diversity, both in religious representation and in the authorship of the works chosen. The list’s heavy emphasis on older works by white male authors has drawn particular criticism in a state where more than half of public school students are Hispanic or Black.
The debate in Texas is part of a broader national push by conservative lawmakers and activists to increase religious content in public schools. Texas, which educates roughly one in 10 U.S. public school students, has often influenced education policy nationwide, and the board’s decision is expected to reverberate in other states weighing similar curriculum changes.