After Texas Approved Bible Stories for Public Schools These Are the Other States Quietly Considering the Same
Religion in public schools is becoming a bigger state-by-state fight in 2024, with curriculum debates now moving well beyond local school board meetings. In Texas, that shift became concrete on Nov. 22, 2024, when the State Board of Education approved an elementary curriculum option that includes Bible-based lessons for kindergarten through fifth grade.
Texas made the first big move
The Texas State Board of Education voted 8-7 on Nov. 22, 2024, to approve Bluebonnet Learning, a state-developed curriculum for reading and language arts in grades K-5, according to the board agenda and meeting records. The materials include references to Bible stories such as Genesis and the Sermon on the Mount, and districts that adopt the full curriculum can receive additional state funding tied to instructional materials.
Texas Education Agency officials said the curriculum is optional, not mandatory, for the state’s more than 1,200 school districts. Even so, the Nov. 22 vote made Texas the clearest example yet of a state formally backing Bible-linked content in classroom lessons while describing it as part of literature and history instruction.
That vote also put attention on other Republican-led states where similar ideas are no longer theoretical. In Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina, state officials or lawmakers have taken documented steps in 2024 to expand or encourage Bible-related instruction, while Idaho has also seen public discussion at the state level over religion-infused curriculum standards.
Where other states stand right now
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in June 2024 that public schools must teach the Bible as an instructional support for history and literature in grades 5 through 12, according to guidance issued by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Court challenges followed, and as of late 2024, statewide implementation remained contested rather than settled.
Louisiana took a different route. In June 2024, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, from kindergarten through state-funded universities. That law is about classroom displays, not a full Bible-story curriculum, but it is part of the same broader push to bring more explicitly religious material into public education.
Arkansas and South Carolina are earlier in the process. In Arkansas, Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said in 2024 that the state was reviewing academic standards and classroom materials, though the state has not announced a Texas-style curriculum adoption. In South Carolina, lawmakers considered Bible-literacy related proposals in recent sessions, but the state has not released a comprehensive plan for statewide classroom use.
Why this is happening and what families should expect
The push is being driven partly by conservative education politics and partly by legal strategy. Supporters in Texas and Oklahoma have said Bible references belong in lessons because they shaped American history, literature, and Western art, while groups including the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have said the policies cross constitutional lines.
Another reason states are moving now is the current Supreme Court climate. Since the court’s 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision, conservative officials in several states have argued that public expressions of religion have stronger constitutional protection than in earlier years, according to public statements and court filings tied to school religion cases.
For families, the practical reality is uneven from state to state. Texas districts can choose whether to use Bluebonnet Learning, Oklahoma’s guidance is still being fought over, and Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is tied up in litigation. What residents should expect next are more school board votes, more state-level guidance, and likely more court rulings in 2025 as these policies are tested.
