Texas will take final vote Friday on whether elementary school curriculum can include Bible-infused teachings

State education leaders will decide on Friday whether Bible lessons will be held in Texas public schools – testing the boundaries between religion and public education in the US

If approved, the plan would allow schools to incorporate Bible studies into the curriculum for students in kindergarten through 5th grade across the state. Lessons like the Golden Rule — treat others as you want to be treated — as well as stories from the book of Genesis would be part of the teachings.

The plan narrowly passed in a preliminary Texas State Board of Education vote earlier this week, 8 to 7. The elected members heard hours of sometimes impassioned pleas from both supporters and critics over the materials that schools could begin using next year.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Texas Board of Education Approves First Vote for Bible Lessons in Textbooks

The State Board of Education held a preliminary vote on adding Bible lessons that could come to public elementary schools. The curriculum would not be required but comes with an incentive.

The 15-member board consists of eleven Republicans and four Democrats.

If a school chooses to participate in the new curriculum, additional funding would be provided by the state. It passed, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in public schools.

Critics of the plan say incorporating Christianity into the classroom could alienate other students.

“What I fear is that this development, especially by promoting one religious tradition over others in the public schools, risks making non-Christians and non-religious people and even non-evangelical Christians outsiders in their own public schools” , says David Brockman with the Baker Institute’s Religion and Public Policy Program. “If that happens, it would be a very sad day for Texas and the United States.”

Texas plans to implement biblical teachings in public school classrooms are the latest effort by Republican-controlled states to bring religion into the classroom.

In Louisiana, a law to place the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of various faiths to sue.

In Oklahoma, the state’s top education official has tried to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in grades five through twelve. A group of teachers and parents recently filed a lawsuit to stop the Republican state superintendent’s plan and his efforts to spend $3 million to buy Bibles for public schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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