Texas Becomes FIRST State to Require Reading the Bible in Public Schools

A revival of the Christian values our nation was founded on is taking place nationwide!

As the latest example of this resurgence of the Truth, Texas has just become the first state in the nation to mandate that public school students read the Bible.

In a vote of 9-5-1, the Texas State Board of Education voted to make Bible passages part of required reading in public schools.

Here are the details:

🚨 JUST IN: The Texas Board of Education has just voted to have MILLIONS of students be taught the Bible in school

GREAT NEWS!

A Christian nation 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/H8Z4lOaAIP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 26, 2026

The Texas State Board of Education has approved a proposal that will establish lists of required reading — including biblical stories and Bible verses — for its K-12 English and literature curriculum. https://t.co/6aa9IDFtzT pic.twitter.com/yId1hk0WGw

— CNN (@CNN) June 26, 2026

Specifically, the new required reading list will include around a dozen excerpts from the Bible, as well as picture books based on Bible stories for young students.

It will go into effect beginning in 2030.

AP News shared more details about what’s on the list:

Texas’ education board on Friday approved a required reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes Bible stories, widening conservative efforts to bring Christian teachings into U.S. classrooms.

The state-mandated list of assigned reading — which includes Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” and excerpts from the New Testament — appeared to be among the first of its kind of the nation and will take effect starting in 2030…

Picture-book stories for elementary students including “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students will encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament. E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” would be assigned to third-graders.

In middle school, students will be expected to read passages about Jesus, including his most famous sermon and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God.

For high schoolers, the list requires the reading of specific Bible passages as supportive materials for literary works, including works by Dickens and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

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Texas law does let parents remove a child from a class or activity that conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs.

Texas Rep. Randy Weber spoke to Newsmax about the new mandate:

🚨 Texas just became the FIRST state to include Bible stories in public school reading lists.

There is nothing wrong with teaching our children the Judeo-Christian values that helped build this great nation.

America is ONE NATION UNDER GOD, and Texas isn’t afraid to say it 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/scbfwkx7lt

— Randy Weber (@TXRandy14) June 26, 2026

This latest move by Texas to instill Christian values in the young population follows the passage of a law last year that required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms.

The Texas State Board of Education is also considering implementing new social studies requirements that incorporate Biblical figures.

More from the Houston Chronicle:

The board also continued to debate new social studies requirements for kindergarten to eighth grade, with a final vote expected late Friday evening.

Biblical concepts and figures are embedded in both plans, which are among the most aggressive efforts to mandate the teaching of Christianity in the country.

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The reading list will be worked into annual standardized exams, and will be rolled out into classrooms in phases beginning with elementary school in the 2030-2031 school year.

Republicans trumpeted the new standards as a victory for Judeo-Christian values and classical ideals. Proponents say that Bible-infused provisions, including required lessons on Jesus, Abraham and Moses, are designed not to evangelize but help children develop moral compasses and appreciate American exceptionalism.

“We are bringing the Bible back into schools this week for the first time in 60 years,” SBOE member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, said during a prayer session outside the hearing this week…

Meanwhile, the social studies requirements the board was poised to approve Friday evening would mark a dramatic shift in pedagogy. The board pursued a history-heavy approach, significantly boosting the number of terms and figures students must know while largely discarding skills-based lessons like creating timelines or learning the cardinal directions.

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Kindergarteners, for example, would be expected to learn stories of the explorers Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, the Native American figures Squanto and Massasoit, flagmaker Betsy Ross, the priest Damian Massanet, former Gov. Sam Houston, Benjamin Franklin and Texas rancher Charles Goodnight.

Students would encounter complex topics far earlier than they do now, with slavery and the Civil War introduced in first grade rather than in fifth grade, for example. Second graders would learn about the American Revolution and the War of 1812, while third graders would cover ancient Israel, Greece and Rome, as well as the Ten Commandments.