A majority of the Texas State Board of Education signaled their support Tuesday for a state-authored curriculum under intense scrutiny in recent months for its heavy inclusion of biblical teachings.
Ahead of an official vote expected to happen Friday, eight of the 15 board members gave their preliminary approval to Bluebonnet Learning, the elementary school curriculum proposed by the Texas Education Agency earlier this year.
The state will have until late Wednesday to submit revisions in response to concerns raised by board members and the general public before the official vote takes place Friday. Board members reserve the right to change their votes.
The curriculum was designed with a cross-disciplinary approach that uses reading and language arts lessons to advance or cement concepts in other disciplines, such as history and social studies. the curriculum鈥檚 lessons allude to Christianity more than any other religion, which they say could lead to the bullying and isolation of non-Christian students, undermine church-state separation and grant the state far-reaching control over how children learn about religion. They also questioned the accuracy of some lessons.
The curriculum鈥檚 defenders say that references to Christianity will provide students with a better understanding of the country鈥檚 history.
Texas school districts have the freedom to choose their own lesson plans. If the state-authored curriculum receives approval this week, the choice to adopt the materials will remain with districts. But the state will offer an incentive of $60 per student to districts that choose to adopt the lessons, which could appeal to some as schools struggle financially after several years without a significant raise in state funding.
Three Republicans 鈥� Evelyn Brooks, Patricia Hardy and Pam Little 鈥� joined the board鈥檚 four Democrats in opposition to the materials.
Leslie Recine 鈥� a Republican whom Gov. appointed to temporarily fill the State Board of Education鈥檚 District 13 seat vacated by former member Aicha Davis, a Democrat who ran successfully for a Texas House seat earlier this year 鈥� voted for the curriculum. Abbott handpicked Recine, potentially a deciding vote on the materials, to fill the seat through the end of the year days before the general election, bypassing Democrat Tiffany Clark. A majority of District 13 residents voted this election for Clark to represent them on the board next year. She ran unopposed.
Board members who signaled their support for the curriculum said they believed the materials would help students improve their reading and understanding of the world. Members also said politics in no way influenced their vote and that they supported the materials because they believed it would best serve Texas children.
鈥淚n my view, these stories are on the education side and are establishing cultural literacy,鈥� Houston Republican Will Hickman said. 鈥淎nd there's religious concepts like the Good Samaritan and the Golden Rule and Moses that all students should be exposed to.鈥�
The proposed curriculum prompts teachers to relay the story of The Good Samaritan 鈥� a parable about loving everyone, including your enemies 鈥� to kindergarteners as an example of what it means to follow the Golden Rule. The story comes from the Bible, the lesson explains, and 鈥渨as told by a man named Jesus鈥� as part of his Sermon on the Mount, which included the phrase, 鈥淒o unto others as you would have done unto you.鈥� have their own version of the Golden Rule.
Brooks, one of the Republicans who opposed the materials Tuesday, said the Texas Education Agency is not a textbook publishing company and that treating it like such has created an uneven playing field for companies in the textbook industry. Brooks also said she has yet to see evidence showing the curriculum would improve student learning.
Hardy, a Republican who also opposed the materials, said she did so without regard for the religious references. She expressed concern about the curriculum鈥檚 age appropriateness and her belief that it does not align with state standards on reading and other subjects.
Meanwhile, some of the Democrats who voted against the curriculum said they worried the materials would inappropriately force Christianity on public schoolchildren. Others cited concerns about Texas violating the Establishment Clause, which prohibits states from endorsing a particular religion.
鈥淚f this is the standard for students in Texas, then it needs to be exactly that,鈥� said Staci Childs, a Houston Democrat. 鈥淚t needs to be high quality, and it needs to be the standard, free of any establishment clause issues, free of any lies, and it needs to be accurate.鈥�
More than 100 Texans signed up Monday to speak for and against the state-authored curriculum.
Courtnie Bagley, education director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that helped develop the curriculum, told board members that the Texas Education Agency has made every effort to respond to concerns from the public. She said rejecting the lessons would give other materials not owned by the state an unfair advantage.
鈥淚t would create a double standard, as Bluebonnet Learning has been held to a different and more stringent review process than other materials under consideration,鈥� Bagley said.
Opponents argued that revisions did not go far enough, and some questioned whether the state鈥檚 intentions with crafting a curriculum that leans heavily on Christianity are political.
鈥淚 am a Christian, and I do believe that religion is a part of our culture, but our nation does not have a religion. We're unique in that,鈥� said Mary Lowe, co-founder of Families Engaged for an Effective Education. 鈥淪o I do not think that our school districts should imply or try to overtly impress to young impressionable children that the state does have a state religion.鈥�
Education officials say references to Christianity will provide students with a better understanding of the country鈥檚 history, while other supporters have stated their belief that the use of religious references does not violate the U.S. Constitution鈥檚 Establishment Clause. Legal experts note that by the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 conservative majority have eroded decades of precedent and made it unclear what state actions constitute a violation of the establishment clause.
State leaders also say the materials cover a broad range of faiths and only make references to religion when appropriate. Education Commissioner Mike Morath has said the materials are based on extensive cognitive science research and will help improve student outcomes. Of 10 people appointed to by the Texas Education Agency to ensure the materials are accurate, age-appropriate and free from bias, at least half of the members have a history of faith-based advocacy.
The Texas Tribune recently reported how the ways the materials address America鈥檚 history of racism, slavery and civil rights. In public input submitted in response to the curriculum and in interviews with the Tribune, they have said the materials strip key historical figures of their complexities and flaws while omitting certain context they say would offer children a more accurate understanding of the country鈥檚 past and present. Board member Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a San Marcos Democrat, and other Texans referenced the Tribune鈥檚 reporting during public testimony on Monday.
In response to those concerns, the Texas Education Agency has said the lessons will provide students with 鈥渁 strong foundation鈥� to understand more complex concepts as they reach later grades. State officials have also said those materials are written in an age-appropriate manner.
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