Christian Nationalists Are Reshaping Texas’s Public School Curricula

When Texas elementary school students return to the classroom next fall, they may be studying from textbooks with messages about patriotism, American exceptionalism and the superiority of the free enterprise system. Some of these textbooks will likely also offer a hefty dose of Christian content, with Bible-infused lessons in their English and language arts classes.

“The flag evokes feelings of pride and respect, reminding us of the freedoms and rights that we cherish as Americans,” one lesson in a State Board of Education- approved textbook begins.

Another lesson, called “Tommy’s Big Dream,” introduces a third grader who hopes to become an entrepreneur. “His favorite class is social studies where he learns about free enterprise,” the textbook states. “This means people in America can open businesses.… Tommy admires local shopkeepers who sell books, toys and treats.… He wants to be like them, using creativity and hard work to succeed. One day, he shares his dream with his teacher who says, ‘In America, you can do anything you set your mind to.’ This makes Tommy feel proud to live in a place where dreams can come true with hard work.”

Other textbooks tout different messages.

Some minimize the foundational impact of slavery in the United States, while others celebrate the architectural splendor of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation without mentioning that enslaved people built it. Similarly, a state-sanctioned 5th-grade textbook cites Abraham Lincoln’s “deep Christian faith” and credits Jim Crow laws with encouraging the development of numerous Black businesses.

Others focus on creationism.

And still others ignore climate change, environmental degradation and the many social movements that shaped the 20th and early 21st centuries.

All told, the approved textbooks include a great deal of questionable content and represents the fruit of a six-and-a-half-decade campaign to change what public school students are taught in Texas and beyond.

The Long Fight for Education Censorship

The story begins in 1961, when Mel and Norma Gabler, Christian fundamentalists from Longview, Texas, created Educational Research Analysts (ERA) to review every textbook used in Texas public schools. The couple were well-versed in the power of organizing and understood that because Texas was — and still is — the second-largest textbook purchaser in the U.S., it had clout. Their initial goals? Making sure that textbooks promoted the teaching of creationism over evolution and showcased the superiority of free enterprise and Christian morality. They also pushed for abstinence-only sex education classes and sought to eradicate what they saw as “liberal bias” in education. The group is now run by Neal and Judy Frey, evangelicals who’ve extended ERA’s agenda to include opposition to marriage equality and trans rights.

A state-sanctioned 5th-grade textbook cites Abraham Lincoln’s “deep Christian faith” and credits Jim Crow laws with encouraging the development of numerous Black businesses.

Slowly but surely, their dogged work has paid off. According to the National Center for Science Education, the Gablers’ first big victory came in 1982, when the Texas State Textbook Committee rejected a top-rated world geography book called Land and People because it said that “biologists believe that human beings, as members of the animal kingdom, have adjusted to their environment through biological adaptation.” Mention of both the Big Bang Theory and the fact that the earth is millions of years old were additional nails in Land and People’s coffin, and the Gablers testified to the committee that “mammals were created, not developed.”

This ball has continued to roll. Zeph Capo, president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and a former middle and high school biology teacher, told Truthout that some school districts have “removed all mention of environmental change from the curriculum, barring teachers from discussing it even if it is in the news or is being directly experienced.”

In fact, says Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read Project, in May 2024 the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston — the third-largest district in the state — removed 13 “controversial” chapters from five science textbooks that covered vaccines, epidemics and climate change.

“This speaks to the narrow ideological viewpoint that is attempting to reshape public education in Texas and throughout the country,” Meehan told Truthout. “For the most part book publishers have mobilized in defense of literature and against book bans more generally, but textbook companies have not publicly reacted to content shifts.”

Perhaps this is because the American Association of Publishers estimates that the textbook industry brings approximately $9 billion a year into the coffers of such industry giants as Cengage Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw Hill, Pearson and Scholastic.

Legislative Changes Bolster Content Changes

A variety of restrictive measures, passed by the Texas legislature, have reinforced these omissions and distortions of fact.

In 2010, for example, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards developed by the State Board of Education mandated that social studies classes inform students that Moses and King Solomon inspired U.S. democracy; that segregated schools did not always lead to inferior instruction for Black children; and that the framers of the Constitution were influenced by ideas generated during the Protestant reformation regarding individual responsibility, freedom to worship and self-governance.

A decade later, in December 2021, the Texas statehouse passed Senate Bill 3. That bill banned the teaching of the 1619 Project (a history of slavery’s impact on the U.S. created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times) and critical race theory, and required instruction on American exceptionalism, patriotism, free markets and entrepreneurship in all Texas schools. Then, HB 900, the Restricting Explicit and Adult Designated Educational Resources Act — now partially enjoined — was passed to restrict “sexually explicit” materials from being stocked by school libraries or sold to school districts. It also required students who want to read books deemed “sexually relevant” to get parental permission.

In November 2024, the state board went one further, voting to approve a Bible-infused curriculum for the state’s 2.3 million kindergarten to 5th grade students. Included are lessons about the golden rule and Jesus’s sermon on the mount. The plan was developed by a state-created entity called Bluebonnet Learning, which has deep ties to the evangelical community. According to the education news outlet The74million.org, the Bluebonnet curriculum utilizes materials developed by eSpired, a company co-founded by Christian nationalist and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s nominee to become ambassador to Israel. A section on the golden rule, for one, was “lifted wholesale from the covers of the company’s books,” The74Million reports. (Geared mostly to Christian homeschoolers, eSpired’s other titles include The Kid’s Guide to Free Speech and Cancel Culture and The Kid’s Guide to Fighting Socialism, both $21.90.)

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers told Truthout that some school districts have “removed all mention of environmental change from the curriculum.

The upshot, Houston TV station KPRL2 noted, is that Christian references appear three times in kindergarten curricula, four times in first grade and 17 times in grade two.

The state board of education has stressed that local school districts do not have to use this curriculum. Nonetheless, those that opt in will receive an extra $60 per student. This “incentive,” says Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, Local 67, “puts districts in a difficult position, forcing them to ask themselves if $60 per student is worth blurring the lines between church and state.”

It may be a tough call.

Texas currently spends $9,871 a year on each student enrolled in Texas public schools, an amount that has remained stagnant since 2019; this is far below the $12,612 national per pupil average. Moreover, while a small segment of Texas teachers and school staff are organized, public workers in the Lone Star State are barred from bargaining collectively.

Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association, says that this means that while the union can advocate for policies it supports, its 68,000 members are limited in the scope of what they can do.

Robison told Truthout that 60 percent of the 5 million kids enrolled in Texas public schools are economically disadvantaged. “They do not respond well to books that say hard work will lead to success since their experience often tells them something different. They need to learn the truth, which is why we believe teachers should be able to teach history lessons that include the negative parts.”

Similarly, Capo of the AFT told Truthout that teachers are becoming increasingly disheartened by the state’s indoctrination of kids. “We have a code of ethics for educators that says that we will not provide preferential treatment to any group of students. We’re now asking ourselves if the curriculum created by Bluebonnet runs afoul of this by prioritizing Christian students over Jewish, Muslim or nonreligious ones. We’re working to see if this will give us leverage.”

Advocates and educators are using other tactics to push back against the curricular changes as well.

Caro Achar, engagement coordinator at the ACLU of Texas, acknowledges that unions are facing an uphill battle but adds that there is an “active network of people who are fighting for the right to speak out and defend the freedom to learn.” The most important thing for advocates of free speech and religious freedom to do right now, Achar says, is testify at local school board meetings and make their opposition to adoption of the curriculum known before it takes effect next fall. “Parents have the right to support their kids in learning to think critically and study history in an inclusive classroom,” she said. “Students have the right to learn the truth. The $60 per head bounty is a big temptation for districts, but they have to resist. We’re pointing out that losing the ability to think critically will cost more than $60 per student in the long run. Kids who are half-educated cannot thrive.”

They also fail to thrive when they feel their identities are under attack.

Zoe Fasolo, a therapist whose practice includes many adolescents who identify as trans, nonbinary or queer, told Truthout that students can be adversely impacted by discussion of curricular changes. Although she is not based in Texas, she said that, “The number one risk for these kids is suicide, and it is often difficult to keep them safe. People are scared about losing access to hormone replacements once Trump takes office. It’s scary and I have no reassuring words. Even worse, when kids are working hard and still struggling, they conclude that they must be doing something wrong if they are not like little Tommy. They get demoralized.”

“Students have the right to learn the truth. The $60 per head bounty is a big temptation for districts, but they have to resist.”

Teachers Try to Mediate But Often Lack the Resources to Help

Many teachers and school workers, of course, try to be there for their students — but union activists report that many of their colleagues are fearful of reprisals. Some self-censor, knowing that they are walking a hard to navigate line.

“Our legislature meets every two years,” Alejandra Lopez of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel told Truthout. During the next session, which begins in January, she expects one of the biggest issues will be universal school vouchers, a benefit that is purportedly meant to give every parent the financial support to send their kids to parochial or private schools but which instead undermines public education. “This is the war Gov. Greg Abbott has been fighting,” she says. “We’re concerned that there may be some trading, getting lawmakers to vote for vouchers in exchange for a per pupil increase in state funding for those who remain in the public schools.”

Unsurprisingly, this is not what most parents want. Ailen Arreaza, director of the national advocacy group Parents Together, told Truthout that, “What we consistently hear from parents is that they want safe, fully funded schools with the resources they need to give their children a clear pathway to work or college when they graduate. They trust teachers and want their kids to be able to make a good life for themselves however they define that. They know that if only one worldview is presented in class, it makes the schools feel unsafe for students who are not part of that group. No one we work with is worried about the lack of Biblical instruction in their child’s classroom.”