Texas approves changes to public schools' social studies curriculum

What This is

• The Texas State Board of Education approved the required statewide reading list for K–8 social studies, while delaying a final vote on high school social studies revisions until September.
• The reading list assigns Bible excerpts by grade level, including books such as Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Job, Jonah, Lamentations, and New Testament passages, alongside classic literature.
• The draft standards shift emphasis toward Texas and U.S. history and would remove a sixth-grade world cultures course.
• The draft also removes or weakens some standards addressing race, minority perspectives, and parts of non-European world history.
• Public testimony also raised concerns that the revisions emphasize Christianity while depicting Islam mainly through conflict, and that the standards are too lengthy and not age-appropriate for classrooms.

Why This Matters

• The decisions will shape what millions of children learn about religion, national identity, and whose histories count.
• Making Bible passages required reading raises constitutional and civic questions about whether public schools are endorsing one faith tradition.
• How Islam and other religions are described in standards can affect religious liberty, student belonging, and the risk of stereotyping in classrooms.
• Because Texas is a huge textbook market, its standards can influence what publishers and other states’ classrooms use.