A preliminary vote held by the Texas state board of education indicates that the state is poised to pass its new controversial Bible-infused curriculum for elementary public schools.
Eight of the 15 board members gave their preliminary approval to the proposed curriculum, called Bluebonnet Learning, in advance of an official vote expected to take place on Friday.
Revealed this summer, the curriculum alludes heavily to Christianity in its English and language arts lessons and is aimed at students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
One of the controversial lessons within the curriculum includes teaching kindergartners about the “golden rule”, which would include a lesson on the story of the Good Samaritan, a parable that demonstrates how one should “love our neighbors as ourselves” and stems from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount from the Bible’s New Testament. Another is about the significant role Jesus played in renaissance artwork such as Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper.
The curriculum has been criticized by some as disproportionately favoring Christianity over all others.
The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, a Republican, called the new instructional material “high quality” and said it “will also allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the US Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution”.
While it will not be mandatory to adopt the new faith-based learning curriculum, the state is offering a financial incentive of $60 a student for schools taking part.
Since the reveal of the curriculum, many public school teachers have spoken out in opposition.
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The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teacher’s union in the country, said in a statement before the vote that it believed this curriculum “violate[s] the separation of church and state and the academic freedom of our classroom” as well as “the sanctity of the teaching profession”.
Legal scholars argue that use of the curriculum would violate the establishment clause of the US constitution, which prevents public schools from promoting or advancing any particular religion.
Texas has served as the backdrop of a growing trend of conservative Christian ideology in public schools. The state was notably the first to allow its public schools to hire uncertified religious chaplains as school counselors.
In nearby Oklahoma, state superintendent and rumored contender for Donald Trump’s secretary of education Ryan Walters announced earlier this year that all schools were required to teach the Bible and the Ten Commandments. He also made it a requirement this week that schools show a video of him praying for the president-elect.
Louisiana became the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom this year.
The Texas board of education did not respond to a request for comment.