In April, the Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to a mandatory list of books all public schools will be required to teach starting in 2030.
The Texas Education Agency’s proposed list has been criticized for being too long, outdated, lacking diversity, and for including passages from the Bible.
The list, which originally included over 300 titles, has been significantly parsed down. Several Bible passages have also been removed or swapped out with an alternative Christian text.
For example, Matthew 7:12, also known as “The Golden Rule,” expresses the notion “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It was originally included in the Kindergarten reading list, but has been replaced with ”The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule.”
Luke 15:11-32, which includes the Parable of the Prodigal Son, was removed from the First Grade reading list. But “Noah’s Ark” by Peter Spier has been added in. “David and Goliath,” an excerpt from “The Children’s Book of Heroes” by William J. Bennett is included on the Second Grade list.
While the Third Grade reading list originally included Acts 9: The Road to Damascus, it now includes “ROAR! Daniel and the Lion’s Den: Children’s Adapted Version” by CBN.
The TEA is asking for public comment and feedback on the list’s contents before the board meets again next month. You can share your thoughts here until June 15.
If the board approves the current list, Texas would become the first US state to mandate Bible readings in public schools. See what Bible passages remain on the list below.
Fourth Grade
The Necessity of Humility—Luke 14:7-11
“When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.’”
Fifth Grade
The Burning Bush—Exodus 3
“‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”
The Parting of the Red Sea—Exodus 14
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.’”
Sixth Grade
Do Not Be Anxious—Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Seventh Grade
The Shepherd’s Psalm—Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
The Eight Beatitudes—Matthew 5:1-12
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Eighth Grade
To Everything There is a Season—Ecclesiastes 3
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Lamentations 3
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.”
High School English 1
The Parable of the Prodigal Son—Luke 15:11-32
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
High School English 2
The Book of Job—Job 1-7, 11, 14, 19, 28, 38-42
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.’”
High School English 3
Adam and Eve—Genesis 2 and 3
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
High School English 4
The Definition of Love—1 Corinthians 13
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Find each grade level’s full list below:
