Texas education officials voted in support of a proposal that permits public school teachers to use Bibles as part of the curriculum for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Because the vote was preliminary, education officials will conduct a final vote on the proposal later this week.
Biblical principles, such as the “Golden Rule” and other lessons, could be implemented in classrooms. Should schools adopt the curriculum, they would receive additional funding.
Some educators criticized the proposal during a Texas State Board of Education meeting, with one attendee saying, “This curriculum fails to meet the standard of an honest, secular one. Public schools are meant to educate, not indoctrinate.”
Others supported the proposal.
“Parents and teachers want a return to excellence,” said Cindy Asmussen. “Stories and concepts in the Bible have been common for hundreds of years.”
The proposal comes as Republicans across the United States have moved to incorporate biblical content into public classrooms.
“I’m excited to announce today that Oklahoma is the first state to bring the Bible back to the classroom. Today, we purchased over 500 Bibles that will be in the AP government classrooms across the state,” Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters recently announced. “We have the Bible, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights; these are foundational documents in our nation’s history. Our kids have to understand the role the Bible played in influencing American history.”
“It’s very clear that the radical left has driven the Bible out of the classroom, which leads to a lack of understanding of American history. We will not stop until we’ve brought the Bible back to every classroom in the state.”
A federal judge struck down a similar law in Louisiana. After the state moved to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, a judge said the law was unconstitutional.
