The Texas Board of Education voted on Friday to make passages from the Bible required reading in the state's public schools. According to ABC News, the decision adds specific religious texts to the material that students across Texas will be expected to study, marking a notable change to what is taught in classrooms in one of the country's largest school systems.
The scale of the mandate is significant. The board's decision means that more than 5 million public school students in Texas will be required to read the designated passages, making the change one that reaches a very large share of children educated in the state.
At the center of the new requirement are selected biblical passages. According to the report, students must read passages from the New Testament as well as excerpts from the Book of Job, placing specific scriptural texts directly into the list of works that pupils are obliged to study.
The biblical material is not being added on its own. The mandate sits within a broader reading list that also features traditional literary works, including E.B. White's Charlotte's Web and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, mixing the scriptural passages with widely taught classics of fiction.
The change is not immediate. According to ABC News, the new reading list is set to take effect in 2030, giving the state's school districts and teachers several years before the requirement applies and the designated texts move into regular classroom use.
The decision touches on a long-running debate over the place of religious texts in public education. By formally requiring passages from the Bible as part of the curriculum for millions of students, the board has put scriptural reading alongside secular literature on the list of what Texas pupils must cover.
With implementation scheduled for the end of the decade, attention is likely to turn to how the requirement is rolled out across the state. The vote sets the framework now, while the practical questions of how the passages are taught will play out as the 2030 start date approaches.