HOUSTON – Eight out of the 15 board members at The Texas State Board of Education gave their preliminary approval and voted in favor of keeping the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum.
The new public-school curriculum would include biblical teachings on a list of K-5 reading and English language arts materials.
The final vote will be held Friday, but KPRC 2 has received a number of questions from viewers about the proposed plan and set out to try and answer a couple.
MORE INFO: Texas Board advances Bible curriculum in close vote, final decision pending Friday
KPRC 2 interviewed Mary Elizabeth Castle with Texas Values, a conservative advocacy group in favor of the proposed plan and Rocio Fierro-Perez the Political Director for the Texas Freedom Network, who opposes it.
Question: There are hundreds of religions, what gives Texas the right to cram Christianity down the throats of our kids? What if I am Jewish or Muslim?
MEC: Christianity has a wide influence on the Western world, when it comes to our government, when it comes to even our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence.” She went on to say, " Some of those people who have made that argument cannot bring one example of where the Quran has influenced the founding of our country or influence key pieces of literature that are popular today.”
RFP Response: “They clearly focus and emphasize on the Bible and with little to no mention of any other major religions.” She added “The fear is that it will create bullying and discrimination against students that don’t practice Christianity,”
Question: What about Separation of Church and State?
MEC: “First of all is not in our Constitution, students aren’t reading the Bible at the beginning of class, and they’re not being asked to profess their faith,”
Fierro-Perez argues that the lesson plan and its author’s qualifications are unclear.
RFP: “These materials have been really troubling for us. The Texas Education Agency has refused to make public who wrote those actual lessons and what their qualifications are.”
Stayed tuned for the results of the final vote.