On Friday, June 26, the Texas State Board of Education voted to approve a new required reading list that includes Bible passages — making Texas the first state in the country to require students to engage with Scripture as part of their public school curriculum. The last time the Bible had a formal place in Texas classrooms was 1963.
Sixty-three years. That's how long it took to undo what never should have been undone in the first place.
Republican board member Julie Pickren, who championed the measure, framed the decision as a return to serious education. "A classical approach to education, one that emphasizes the careful study of primary historical documents, plays a vital role in developing strong critical thinking skills," Pickren said. She argued that Bible passages offer "important insights into the moral and philosophical traditions that have shaped Western civilization."
"When students engage directly with original writings, speeches, sermons, and foundational texts, they can evaluate ideas and develop a deeper understanding," Pickren added. This isn't Sunday school. It's the same reasoning behind teaching the Federalist Papers or the Declaration of Independence — you read the primary documents that built the civilization you're living in.
Fellow Republican board member Brandon Hall was a bit more direct about it. "We're going to stop watering down American history," Hall said. "We're going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state." Hall isn't running for faculty approval at Columbia. He's stating what most Texans already believe.
Not everyone on the board was thrilled. Member Evelyn Brooks pushed back, arguing that "Teachers need to have their autonomy. They've been selecting books for decades, for years. This is nothing new." Fair point on teacher autonomy — but the counterpoint is that teacher autonomy in blue states has given us library shelves full of gender theory for sixth graders. Autonomy is great when the people exercising it have actual standards.
Board member LJ Francis offered the simplest case for the change. "I think we'll see the reading scores go up, and I think we'll see children just learning and loving to read again," Francis said. Novel concept — giving kids something worth reading.
Stanford professor Antero Garcia, a former high school English teacher, told American Wire News what everyone already knows: "Oftentimes, where Texas goes, other states will follow." He noted that students under the new curriculum "are going to get substantial exposure to a singular text across your public schooling experience." Garcia meant it as a warning. Most parents would call it a feature.
And that's exactly what has the opposition scrambling. The legal challenges are already being drafted. The argument will be the same one it always is — that teaching the Bible in public schools violates the separation of church and state. Never mind that students study Greek mythology, the Quran in world history units, and Indigenous spiritual traditions without a single lawsuit. The Bible is the only text that triggers constitutional emergency.
The Texas Tribune flagged the coming fight as early as June 19, before the vote even happened. The playbook is predictable: a federal judge in Austin or San Francisco will issue an injunction, advocacy groups will file amicus briefs, and the whole thing will crawl toward the Supreme Court while cable news treats it like the Scopes trial sequel.
Meanwhile, Texas students will be reading Genesis, Psalms, and Proverbs alongside Shakespeare and the Constitution. The state that already leads the country in energy production and population growth now leads it in remembering where Western civilization actually came from.
The Bible was in American classrooms for the first 187 years of the republic. It's been out for 63. Texas just decided which era produced better-educated citizens.
