Legal rights groups call on Texas superintendents to reject Bluebonnet curriculum
As part of the curriculum, Texas public schools could use teachings from the Bible in lessons as an option for students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
While it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum, participating institutions would receive additional funding for participating.
The call to reject the curriculum follows a months-long review process by the Texas Education Agency, beginning in May 2024; the curriculum was scrutinized for a perceived elevation of certain forms of Christianity over other religious practices before it was formally approved in November 2024.
The motion to approve followed Republican-led efforts in other states to incorporate more religious teachings into classrooms and the board heard from more than 150 people about the new proposed curriculum during several hours of testimony before the final vote.
But, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas was recently joined by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Center for Inquiry, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation in a letter warning superintendents and school boards that implementing the optional curriculum risks imposing state-sponsored religious beliefs on Texas students, in violation of their First Amendment rights.
"Schools can teach the Bible or about religions in school if it from a historical, objective perspective," said Chloe Kempf, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. "The problem with the Bluebonnet curriculum is that it presents many aspects of Christianity as true literal historical record and does not do so for any other religions and that's where it crosses the line into unconstitutionality," she added.
"School districts should steer clear of this deeply flawed, Bible-infused curriculum," added Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "Public schools are not Sunday schools, and Texas students and their families deserve better."
In an email to CBS News Texas, a spokesperson for the TEA asserted that a large number of the concerns raised about Bluebonnet Learning have come from individuals or groups that have not actually read the product:
"Public schools may not provide religious instruction and there is no religious instruction in Bluebonnet Learning. Instead, Bluebonnet Learning is comprised of instructional materials that have a broad base of topics including history, literature, the arts and culture which, when contextually relevant, can include religious topics sampling from a wide range of faiths. The materials include content from or about varied religious source materials for the literary and historical value of the content and its connection to creating a strong background of knowledge for students."
Following the passage of the reading and math instructional materials, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Bluebonnet learning represented a 'back to basics' approach to learning that would steer the state towards the best education in America.
"These transformative education materials are voluntary and free for schools and teachers to use," he said in a statement. "With parents able to access these materials online, we will ensure young Texans have access to high quality, grade-level appropriate curricula that will provide the necessary fundamentals in math, reading, science, and other core subjects and boost student outcomes across Texas."
Kempf said the Bluebonnet curriculum focuses on one specific view of Christianity and presents it as an objective truth, potentially excluding students who embrace other faith traditions, or no religion at all, and the result is an environment that is distracting to academic learning or harmful to the students' mental health.
Rather, Kempf asserts that public schools are diverse and all students should be welcome.
"We have students of all genders, religions, races [and] economic backgrounds and it's our goal at ACLU of Texas that all students can feel free to show up in the classroom as their authentic selves and not made to feel shamed because of who they are," she said.
Schools will be able to opt into the curriculum starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
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