Texas education officials said they won’t disclose who authored the controversial new curriculum with bible lessons nor how much the state paid for it.
Nearly three months ago, the state introduced a new curriculum for K-5 kids that relied heavily on the bible and even presented some stories as historical facts. The work was part of an $84 million contract the state signed in march.
A state official told The 74 that the contract falls under a disaster declaration Gov. Greg Abbott issued to accelerate delivery of vaccines, masks and other supplies during the Covid pandemic. The official said paperwork doesn’t exist for this contract, so the state won’t say who authored the curriculum nor how much they were paid.
Numerous officials, including Republican members of the state board of education have denounced the lack of transparency of the Texas Education Agency, especially its commissioner, Mike Miles.
“I did not get a lot of my questions answered when it came to who wrote the curriculum,” said Evelyn Brooks, a Republican board member. “It’s hard and it shouldn’t be. Someone knows this information.”
Morath has said the new curriculum will strengthen kids’ reading skills and will teach them culture, art, history, including the Bible’s influence. However, critics have argued that the Bible’s influence is excessive and is used to appeal to the interest of Christian nationalists.
For example, a lesson on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” draws parallels to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. A lesson on ancient Rome, diverts the lesson to the life and ministry of Jesus and presents many of the events as historical facts.
As The 74 reported, Morath first signed a contract for the material with the Boston-based Public Consulting Group. Then, the group subcontracted curriculum writers and experts, including officials at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation and the christian Hillsdale College. However, it is not clear who wrote the curriculum, the college said it only offered resources on a few unis and claimed it performed the work for free.
When asked about who wrote the materials, officials declined to comment or didn’t respond at all.
Board members are set to vote on the materials in November, but had claimed that they should know who wrote them.
“They’re going to appeal to the Christian nationalists with their Bible stories. They’re just trying to gather votes,” said Pat Hardy, a GOP board member.
Currently, Republicans hold 10 of the 15 seats of the boards, there is still discontent about the lack of transparency and the excessive bible lessons among them.
Meanwhile, bible experts have said that the Bible teachings in the materials are inaccurate. For example Mark Chancey, a religious studies professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas noted that the lesson about Queen Esther, which talks about God, prayers, faith and protecting the Jewsih people’s freedom to worship is completely inaccurate.
He stated that the curriculum’s authors edited the biblical material “to their liking to make it more religious.” He said that “The Book of Esther never mentions God, prayer or worship — not even once.”
Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who is a seminary student and a former teacher, blasted Morath, saying that public schools are not Sunday schools.
“Or as Governor Abbott is fond of saying, ‘schools are for education, not indoctrination,’” he said.