The Bible in classrooms: what comes next?

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The adoption of required reading lists by the State Board of Education (SBOE) in late June has resulted in a deluge of mainstream media coverage about what the possible impacts might be. Texas AFT has been writing steadily on this topic for more than six months as the process has evolved and rulemaking occurred in the boardroom. This week, we dive deeper into how parents and teachers can navigate the troubled waters ahead. 

Many Christian parents testified at both the April and June SBOE meetings that they were concerned about the teaching of religious texts in school; they rightly think that parents (and their chosen faith leaders) should have the primary care of determining if and which religious teachings their students are exposed to. Combine this with the testifiers of other faiths that also spoke out at the meeting and this had the makings of being a very unpopular policy.

The adoption of these lists has parents wondering how they can exercise their right to direct the religious (or non-religious) education of their children. Texas Education Code (TEC) does have some provision for this in Chapter 26 related to parental rights and responsibilities: 

TEC §26.010. EXEMPTION FROM INSTRUCTION. (a) A parent is entitled to remove the parent's child temporarily from a class or other school activity that conflicts with the parent's religious or moral beliefs if the parent presents or delivers to the teacher of the parent's child a written statement authorizing the removal of the child from the class or other school activity. A parent is not entitled to remove the parent's child from a class or other school activity to avoid a test or to prevent the child from taking a subject for an entire semester. 

(b) This section does not exempt a child from satisfying grade level or graduation requirements in a manner acceptable to the school district and the agency. 

The process to exempt seems clear-cut, but what is more difficult for parents to discern is when the instruction might occur. This can vary widely among districts. House Bill (HB) 1605 intended to provide such transparency by requiring instructional materials to be placed into a parent portal for review prior to the beginning of the school year; this is limited to materials adopted by the SBOE and may exclude teacher created content. Then again, HB 1605 is also the bill that authorized the Texas Education Agency to create these lists.  

In a bill that seems almost prescient, HB 1390 (89R) by Rep. Erin Zwiener would have required districts to proactively notify parents in writing a week prior to any specific instruction or activity pertaining to religion or religious values. This would provide parents with sufficient notice to exercise their right to remove their child from the instruction or activity. The bill goes on to expressly prohibit any disciplinary or academic consequences to the student for this removal. 

This kind of proactive behavior on the part of districts and teachers should be considered even without a statutory requirement in place. This kind of transparency protects both teachers and parents from avoidable and potentially uncomfortable situations after instruction. 

Teachers will invariably be caught in the cross hairs of this implementation landscape. As we mentioned last week, regardless of the content of the lists, these mandatory readings will likely require some hefty retraining and development for English language arts and Spanish language arts teachers. Some titles, including the Bible passages, may have previously not been taught, and familiar titles may have shifted from one grade level to another. Further, when a parent inevitably employs the aforementioned statute to remove their child, the teacher/district will need to come up with an alternative instructional text or lesson for that student, increasing the planning and preparation that must happen.  

This entire process overtaxes teachers that will be required to teach biblical texts and navigate these minefieldsbeing created in classrooms. As ever, the state has made no mention of providing professional development. While teaching in compliance with state-provided training may help avoid complaints, do we really want the state meddling further in instruction? 

These required lists were adopted with a staggered implementation beginning during the 2031-2032 school year (which is also the year these titles may appear on the statewide tests). It is important to remember that there are two legislative cycles between now and then and given the spotlight on these standards, we may yet see legislation to amend the lists or shield students from them in classrooms. This possibility is heavily contingent on who wins and who loses in the upcoming November general elections. 

Texas AFT will continue to report on these and any curriculum changes that impact our classrooms. The SBOE will meet again in September and November 2026, and the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2027.