AUSTIN — The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Center for Inquiry, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation today sent a letter to Texas superintendents urging them and their school boards to reject the new K-5 Bluebonnet reading language arts curriculum. The letter warns superintendents and school boards that implementing the optional curriculum risks imposing state-sponsored religious beliefs on Texas students in violation of their First Amendment rights.
The curriculum has faced widespread criticism since it was first introduced by the Texas Education Agency in May 2024 for embedding religious content that favors certain forms of Christianity over all other religious perspectives.
Despite overwhelming public outcry, the State Board of Education approved the Bluebonnet curriculum in an 8-7 vote on November 22, 2024.
The following quotes can be attributed to the free speech organizations that signed on to the letter:
“State politicians are trying to indoctrinate our children by imposing a set of religious beliefs on them," said Chloe Kempf (she/her), staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Doing so would violate students’ constitutional rights to be free of state-sponsored religious coercion and put certain students at risk of bullying, harassment, and stigmatization. Students of all religious backgrounds deserve to feel included and welcomed in school. Superintendents must reject the Bluebonnet curriculum’s religious teachings. Families and faith communities have the right to instill religious beliefs, or none at all — not the government.”
“School districts should steer clear of this deeply flawed, Bible-infused curriculum,” said Daniel Mach (he/him), director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Public schools are not Sunday schools, and Texas students and their families deserve better.”
“Students and their families, not politicians or public school officials, should decide if, when, and how to engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser (she/her), president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “We urge all Texas school districts to reject this Bible-infused curriculum, which is part of a Christian Nationalist scheme to impose their religious beliefs on public school students. Public schools should be open and welcoming to all of our children.”
“This curriculum is a blatant attempt to score political points with white Christian Nationalists, who only approve of Texas meddling in religion when the state is promoting their preferred religious doctrine,” notes Sam Grover (he/him), senior litigation counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The Constitution protects all people — whether they are Christian, belong to a minority religion, or are nonreligious — from government overreach in matters of faith. Families, not the government, should decide the religious or nonreligious upbringing of their children.”
“The Bluebonnet curriculum represents a clear and obvious Establishment Clause violation, even if Texas legislators have decided to pretend otherwise,” said Richard Conn (he/him), general counsel for the Center for Inquiry. “We urge school superintendents not to make that same mistake and instead to stand up for the rights and constitutionally protected freedoms of the students, families, and communities they serve.”
Access the letter sent to superintendents here: https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/joint_letter_to_texas_school_districts_opposing_bluebonnet_k-5_rla_curriculum.pdf
