Story perspectives

Texas Board Approves Bible-Based K-8 List, Critics Decry Exclusion

6/26/2026

Summary

Story summary

Texas State Board will vote Friday on a K-8 reading list that includes Bible stories.
The draft curriculum pairs biblical narratives like Moses with the Underground Railroad.
Educators and Democratic board members criticize the plan for omitting racial and ethnic perspectives.
They also say the plan emphasizes memorization over critical analysis.
The panel removed a standard on under-represented perspectives and set K-8 rollout for 2030-31, delaying high-school changes.

History

Historical Context

Texas’s 2024 plan to place biblical stories beside the Underground Railroad echoes the 1995 Texas State Board of Education overhaul, when a 15-member panel backed by Governor George W. Bush inserted creationist language into a $1.5 billion textbook market, prompting ACLU lawsuits. The episode follows a century-long pattern of state-level curriculum fights, from post-Civil War censorship to the 2007 resignation of TEA science director Christine Comer.

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Story summary

Texas State Board will vote Friday on a K-8 reading list that includes Bible stories.
The draft curriculum pairs biblical narratives like Moses with the Underground Railroad.
Educators and Democratic board members criticize the plan for omitting racial and ethnic perspectives.
They also say the plan emphasizes memorization over critical analysis.
The panel removed a standard on under-represented perspectives and set K-8 rollout for 2030-31, delaying high-school changes.

1 / 2