Texas Schools Reject State's Bible-Themed Curriculum Agenda

Introduction to the New K-5 Reading Program in Texas

This upcoming school year, the Fairfield school district in Texas, located between Dallas and Houston, is set to introduce a new K-5 reading program that incorporates multiple biblical references. However, to avoid potential conflicts regarding families' religious beliefs, the district has removed approximately 30 sections from the curriculum. These include a kindergarten lesson on the Golden Rule featuring Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and several excerpts about a Christian prayer associated with the first Thanksgiving.

Superintendent Joe Craig explained that the elementary teachers reviewed the materials for potentially controversial content. They believed these parts did not align with what they wanted the lessons to focus on. A kindergarten discussion of the Golden Rule, which originates from the Bible and other religious texts, was among the lessons removed by the Fairfield district.

The approach taken by Fairfield reflects a broader trend among many districts when it comes to Bluebonnet Learning, the state-developed materials that prominently feature the Bible and Christianity. For example, Fort Worth, the fifth-largest district in the state, adopted the phonics portion of the curriculum but rejected the units with religious material. Some districts ordered only a few books, likely for review purposes, while others like Houston and Dallas chose to continue using their existing programs.

Financial Investment and Controversy Surrounding Bluebonnet

Texas has invested roughly $100 million—still increasing—to develop and promote its own reading curriculum. However, some observers suggest that districts might be hesitant to adopt it, given that the State Board of Education approved it by a narrow one-vote margin.

Eve Myers, a consultant with HillCo Partners, noted that districts may be reluctant to bring the same controversy into their communities, especially in areas with diverse religious backgrounds. She pointed out that this could distract from other critical issues such as budget management, student achievement, and school safety.

With over 1,200 districts and about 600 charter schools in Texas offering elementary grades, only Conroe, north of Houston, has announced plans to use the program this fall. According to a state purchasing system, between May and late July, 144 districts and charters, mostly mid-sized or small, ordered the materials.

State board members have requested the total number of districts using Bluebonnet. Pam Little, a board member who opposed the reading program last November, said, “That’s the question we would all like to know.”

Religious Content and Legal Debates

State leaders and conservative advocates argue that the religious content in the curriculum reflects a classical and appropriate way to teach literacy skills alongside history and culture. Others appreciate the emphasis on cursive writing and challenging vocabulary. In an interview with The 74 last year, State Commissioner of Education Mike Morath stated that a phonics-based curriculum that also builds students’ background knowledge can help the state recover from declines in reading skills due to the pandemic.

However, the program sparked a statewide debate over whether political leaders are imposing Christianity on public schools. Bluebonnet makes its debut in classrooms at the same time schools will be required under a new state law to display the 10 Commandments. Governor Greg Abbott also signed legislation in June allowing districts to offer a daily, voluntary period for prayer and reading the Bible or other religious texts.

Parental Concerns and Teacher Challenges

In the Conroe school district, Dayren Carlisle, a curriculum director, said leaders chose Bluebonnet because teachers were previously working with a patchwork of materials. This often led to long hours preparing for reading and writing instruction, she told The 74 in an email. Bluebonnet provides a coherent set of lessons that meet state standards, she added.

However, parent Christine Yates advocated against it, stating, “I don’t think religious-based instruction belongs in any type of public school setting.” Her family doesn’t attend church, and she is concerned that the lessons dealing with faith are just “borrowing trouble.”

Becky Sherrill, a former Conroe teacher, sympathizes with educators who will have to navigate parent requests to opt their children out of the lessons. It’s a right that many parents might be more likely to exercise this fall due to a June U.S. Supreme Court opinion in favor of religious families wanting their children exempted from hearing stories with LGBTQ themes.

Adoption and Implementation of Bluebonnet

The state board narrowly approved the new program after the Texas Education Agency spent roughly $84 million to adapt an existing reading curriculum from the company Amplify. Renamed Bluebonnet, after the state flower, the Texas version includes highlights of Jesus’ ministry and offers an evangelical view of early American history.

The agency, which would not provide a list of all districts that have ordered the program, paid multiple companies and content experts to craft and review the lessons, including the far-right Texas Public Policy Foundation. Hillsdale College, a Christian school in Michigan, volunteered to work on units related to America’s founding, and a Christian media company co-founded by Mike Huckabee contributed illustrations. However, Texas officials refused to identify who wrote the biblical passages.

In response to backlash, officials added more references to Islam and Hinduism and removed some texts that were offensive to Jews, but the final version still references Christianity more than other religions.

“We reviewed it and loved it,” said Cindi Castilla, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a conservative organization. She pushed for state board approval of the curriculum last year, saying that there is “richness in biblical literature” and that Bible stories teach children character traits and the origins of the legal system.

Financial Incentives and Future Considerations

Districts on the fence about Bluebonnet can reconsider their decision next year. To make it more enticing, lawmakers added financial incentives—up to $60 per student for districts that use state-approved materials. That was likely one reason why the 27,000-student Lubbock schools adopted it, said Clinton Gill, a former math and science teacher in the district who now works for the Texas State Teachers Association.

At the same time, he thinks district leaders assume students will stand a better chance of performing well on the state test if officials match it up to a curriculum the state developed. Adopting Bluebonnet “also helps the district not have to hire staff to write curriculum when they get it from the state for free.”

The per-student bonus isn’t the only way the state aims to ensure Bluebonnet becomes the preferred choice. In December, the month after the board approved it, the Texas Education Agency quickly made Bluebonnet available to order. Materials from other publishers weren’t available until May.

“It seems that Bluebonnet Learning had an advantage,” Little told Morath, the commissioner, during a June meeting. She said she heard complaints from publishers over the issue.

Morath called the delay a “one-time exacerbated problem” because the state had to add new language to contracts with publishers before making their materials available to districts. While the time lapse should be shorter next year, he said there would always be some gap.

In the current state budget, lawmakers authorized Morath to contract with businesses to “promote, market and advertise” Bluebonnet. A separate appropriations bill provides $243 million to districts to help with implementation costs, like coaching for teachers.

Last year’s budget included $10 million for regional education service centers to do similar work for districts adopting Bluebonnet. The centers are expected to meet targets for increasing the number of districts using the materials in their region to stay eligible for future funding.

Some leaders in the state say that top-down pressure could alter the relationship the centers have traditionally had with school systems in their regions. They help districts, especially smaller ones with fewer central office staff, stay in compliance with state regulations or work on school improvement.

The service centers have always been a “hub of knowledge,” said Martha Salazar-Zamora, superintendent of the Tomball Independent School District, north of Houston. Expecting districts to sell Bluebonnet, she said, “has been more of a strategic push.”

She doesn’t doubt that Bluebonnet will boost reading scores for some students, but Tomball is already rated a high-performing district in the state’s accountability system. Another reason why she didn’t consider the program is because a Spanish version is not yet available. Her district, where about 35% of students are English learners, has a Spanish-English dual language program.

“I love anything that helps kids,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s the right tool for every district.”