The Texas State Board of Education on June 26 approved a mandatory reading list for public schools that includes select stories from the Bible.
The measure includes a list of texts that would be required reading during each grade level in all the state’s public schools, and includes Bible stories and verses in grades ranging from elementary to high school. The move has kicked off a polarizing debate over religious freedom and religion in schools.
There were over 5.5 million students enrolled in public schools in the state during the 2024-25 school year. Those students already view the Ten Commandments listed in each classroom after a state law requiring them was upheld by a federal appeals court.
The State Board of Education, which has a Republican majority, approved the proposed reading lists in a 9-5 vote on June 26.
The reading lists came as a result of a 2023 Texas law requiring the Board of Education to develop vocabulary and reading lists for each grade. Texas is the first state to have such a mandatory reading list, The Associated Press and Education Week have reported.
The lists include standard literary texts commonly read in public schools, such as “Johnny Appleseed” in second grade, “Charlotte’s Web” in third grade, “The Phantom Tollbooth” in fifth grade and “Great Expectations” in high school. There are also works on the nation’s Founding Fathers and other historical figures. It also includes Bible verses or adapted Bible stories in many grade levels, with a required version of the Bible from which the passages are to be read.
These are some of the required religious texts:
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg
Last modified: July 19, 2026
