Texas Freedom Network Education Fund has launched a report examining a Texas Bible-infused curriculum for K-5 students.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 15, 2024
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas – A state-developed reading curriculum for public elementary schools in Texas is infused with lessons that overwhelmingly emphasize the Bible over sacred texts of other religions and subtly portray Christian faith claims as true in ways that verge on proselytizing students, according to a new report from the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.
The report by Dr. David Brockman finds that the proposed curriculum, produced by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and currently under consideration by the State Board of Education, is also filled with inaccuracies, distorts and whitewashes history, and hides from parents just how extensive and Christian-centric its religious lessons are.
“Teaching about the influence of religion in our history is an important part of a well-rounded education, but this error-riddled curriculum risks turning public schools into Sunday schools, with parents of diverse religious beliefs left in the dark,” said Val Benavidez, president of the TFN Education Fund. “Under the deceptive guise of promoting religious literacy, these Bible-based lessons undermine the freedom of Christian as well as non-Christian parents to guide the religious instruction of their own children.”
Although the curriculum emphasizes religious freedom repeatedly throughout numerous lessons, it actually undermines the religious freedom of families, Dr. Brockman notes.
“Contrary to the claims of its authors and state education officials, the curriculum is largely focused on Christianity and Christian faith claims and, worse, frequently hides that from parents in guidance intended for students’ families,” said Dr. David R. Brockman, a religious studies scholar and Christian theologian. “I wouldn’t use my college classroom to proselytize students, and a public school curriculum shouldn’t even come close to doing that either, given the diverse religious beliefs of teachers, students, and families the public schools serve. Unfortunately, this curriculum verges on proselytism and forces Bible study on students regardless of their families’ wishes or religious beliefs.”
The report highlights five key findings from Dr. Brockman’s review:
- The curriculum overemphasizes Christianity, offering very limited coverage or none at all of other major religions and faith traditions.
- One-sided portrayals of Christianity and its impact whitewash difficult historical truths.
- Lessons subtly portray Christian faith claims as straightforwardly true, opening the curriculum to the charge that it is meant to proselytize students.
- The authors appear to go out of their way to work detailed Bible lessons into the curriculum even when they are both unnecessary and unwarranted.
- Though religious freedom is vital to American democracy, the curriculum distorts its role in the nation’s founding while underplaying the importance of other fundamental liberties cherished by Americans.
HB 1605, passed by the Legislature in 2023, authorizes the Texas Education Agency to offer Open Education Resource (OER) materials for public schools. If approved by the State Board of Education, the state would then provide additional funding to schools that use the materials. TEA will develop OER curriculum materials for other subject areas in the coming years.
An OER Advisory Board appointed by Education Commissioner Mike Morath is guiding the development of these curriculum materials. That board is stocked with politicians and conservative political and religious operatives including Republican former presidential candidate Ben Carson. Just one education specialist from a major public state university sits on the 10-person advisory panel.
In addition, Carson is an author of Project 2025. Three “delegate” members Carson has added to the OER Advisory Board – all staffers at Carson’s conservative American Cornerstone Institute – are listed as contributors to that radical political blueprint for a second Trump administration. Moreover, the American Cornerstone Institute and Texas Public Policy Foundation, which employs another Morath-appointed OER Advisory Board member, are listed on the Project 2025 Advisory Board.
The State Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the OER reading curriculum for Kindergarten through Grade 5 as well as other materials submitted for approval in September. The board is expected to take a final vote on approval in November.
The TFN Education Fund report and executive summary about the OER reading curriculum can be found at www.tfn.org/teachthetruth.
