State-required Bible reading in public schools. It seems state-sponsored religion is already here.
On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education approved a required reading list of Bible stories and Bible verses for every public school student in the state.
If implemented, more than 5 million Texas children will read it, roughly one in ten public school students in America.
A 2023 law required one literary work for each grade. This new plan requires several works for each grade, and it requires students to read each one in its entirety. Scholars call it the first mandatory state reading list to require religious texts in the nation. It takes effect in 2030.
Texas built toward this for years. In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow chaplains in its public schools. Last year, Texas ordered the Ten Commandments onto every classroom wall, and a federal appeals court upheld the order.
The list even goes so far as to specify which Bible, requiring use of the King James Version, which not all denominations use. The Roman Catholic Church uses a different one.
About a third of Texas adults follow no Christian faith. Parents may opt their children out, but the state may still test those children on the material.
State-required Bible reading in public schools. It seems state-sponsored religion is already here.
Notes To My Future Self 