Legal groups are urging Texas school districts to reject the state’s controversial new language arts curriculum they say overemphasizes Christianity.
The ACLU, along with the Center for Inquiry, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to superintendents and school districts this week calling the curriculum “unconstitutional.”
The letter says the optional program is filled with Christian references and violates the religious freedom of students and their families.
“How or whether we practice religion is up to students and their parents and not the government,” said Chloe Kempf, an attorney with the ACLU. “It's just that simple.”
The State Board of Education passed the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum in November despite widespread criticism from both the public and religious scholars.
The materials feature numerous Biblical references, including text from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament "along with references to Islam and Hinduism" to teach kindergarteners about the Golden Rule. It also features at story based on the Parable of the prodigal son, "derived from the Book of Luke, a book of the New Testament of the Christian Bible."
“The Bluebonnet curriculum promotes Christianity, prioritizes it over other religions, and proselytizes students,” the letter says.
Kempf said their main concern is bullying and harassment in the classroom.
The offers an additional per-student incentive to districts that adopt Bluebonnet, but it wouldn’t cover the cost of adopting the program entirely, according toa fact check by the Houston Chronicle, in some cases the district would have to pay out of pocket as the incentive wouldn’t cover the cost of the program completely.
Some districts are considering adopting the program, including Conroe ISD north of Houston. Denton ISD’s superintendent said in December the district won’t use the curriculum for now.
Olla Mokhtar is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Olla at omokhtar@kera.org.
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