Texas Schools Add Bible Passages to Required Reading

Jun 29, 2026

Texas is putting Bible passages on its required public-school reading list, a win for religious conservatives and a fight for everyone who sees it as crossing the church-state line.

  • The Texas Board of Education voted to require students to read Bible stories — Noah's Ark, Exodus, Adam and Eve — alongside classics and the Declaration of Independence, starting in 2030.
  • It builds on last year's rule forcing schools to post the Ten Commandments, which a federal court upheld.
  • The real fight is over control: the board says it sets the curriculum and teachers must teach what they're told, while opponents call it unconstitutional and a grab of teachers' freedom to pick their own books.
  • Backers frame it as bringing morals and Judeo-Christian values back to schools; critics warn it forces religion on millions of kids.

Outlook: Expect court challenges before the 2030 rollout, with the Ten Commandments win suggesting Texas thinks it can survive them.

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