AUSTIN, Texas — BREAKING: The Texas Board of Education has given final approval to a controversial new curriculum that teaches Bible lessons in public schools. The vote was 8 to 7.
——-
The Texas Board of Education is set to vote on a controversial new curriculum that teaches Bible lessons in public schools.
The state board heard hours of public testimony over the course of two days. On Tuesday, during a preliminary vote, the board voted to move forward with the curriculum known as Bluebonnet Learning, meaning it’s one step closer to being adopted.
If approved, Bluebonnet Learning would incorporate Bible lessons into reading and language arts textbooks in public schools across the state.
It would impact 2.3 million public school students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
A constitutional law expert KHOU 11 News spoke with earlier this week says, if approved, this will likely end in a long legal battle that could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“In terms of Texas politics, that it would be approved and that we will see litigation and that the issues that we have discussed will have to be resolved. And the Supreme Court in the modern era has made this a little more possible by allowing a religion to be used by the state in a historical, in quotes, non-religious context,” Martin Levy, professor of law at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, said.
This curriculum would not be mandatory across the state. Districts would get the final say, but those who choose to adopt the curriculum would receive an incentive of $60 per student.
The State Board is set to vote later today.