Texas State Board Approves Bible Stories for Required Reading List

**AUSTIN, Texas** — Texas public school students will be required to read Bible stories under a new reading list approved by the State Board of Education.

The board voted to approve a list of approximately 200 texts, including Bible passages, essays and books. The requirement stems from a 2023 state law mandating that at least one literary work be taught at each grade level.

The new list includes picture-book stories suitable for elementary students, such as "David and Goliath" and "Daniel and the Lion's Den." By fourth grade, students will encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament. E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" is assigned to third-graders.

Middle school students will read passages about Jesus, including the Sermon on the Mount. High schoolers will study specific Bible passages as supportive materials for literary works by authors including Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he is unaware of any other state with a mandatory reading list that includes religious texts. Typically, educators at the district and school level choose texts.

Texas law allows parents to remove a child from a class or activity that conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs.

Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America's Freedom to Read program, called the move "unique" to Texas.

State Board of Education Chair Pat Hardy said the list reflects traditional values. "America should celebrate our 250 years that started as a nation of unwavering Christian values," Hardy said.

Critics argue the list lacks diversity. Chanea Bond, who teaches English courses in Fort Worth, called the list "very old and very white," saying it does not represent what Texas classrooms look like.

Melissa is in Collin County within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, about 45 miles north of downtown Dallas.