HOUSTON — Now that Texas will allow a Bible-infused curriculum in elementary schools, KHOU 11 News sought to find out what Houston-area school districts would decide to use it.
Will they use the newly approved material or not?
The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education is optional for schools to adopt, but they will receive additional funding if they do. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year.
The Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education for more than 5 million students statewide, created its own instructional materials after a law passed in 2023 by the GOP-controlled Legislature required the agency to do so. The lesson plans were publicly released this spring.
The material draws on lessons from Christianity more than any other religion in the proposed reading and language arts modules for kindergarten through fifth grade, which critics say would alienate students from different faith backgrounds and potentially violate the First Amendment.
We reached out to more than a dozen school districts in the Houston area to find out how they were planning on using the new material, if at all.
Klein ISD said it doesn't currently carry Bluebonnet Learning material.
Cy-Fair ISD said it doesn't use it, either, and they haven't reviewed the newly approved curriculum or made a decided its future use.
Katy ISD said it has a well-established practice of reviewing state-approved material before adopting it.
These are the districts we reached out to and haven't heard back from:
- Houston ISD
- Alief ISD
- Spring Branch ISD
- Aldine ISD
- Spring ISD
- Sheldon ISD
- Channelview ISD
- Galena Park ISD
- Tomball ISD
- Humble ISD
- Pasadena ISD
Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly supported the instruction materials.