Inclusion of religious teachings raises concerns
The Taylor Independent School District does not plan to use the state-approved Bluebonnet Learning materials — which includes religious- based teachings — in the 2025-26 school year, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Hutto Independent School District is reviewing the materials, with a goal of coming to a decision early in the 2025 spring semester.
The materials have sparked controversy due to the inclusion of faith-sourced teachings, including some drawn from the Bible. Schools that do introduce the materials into the classroom in the fall will receive an extra stipend per student, officials said.
“Taylor ISD plans to continue using our current high-quality instructional materials, which support student growth and align with evidence-based practices,” Taylor Chief Academic Officer Megan Zembik wrote to the Press in an email. “Taylor ISD follows a thorough curriculum- adoption process that prioritizes input from teachers, administrators and community stakeholders. Any potential changes to instructional resources undergo a rigorous review process.”
Bluebonnet Learning is a state-owned curriculum developed by the Texas Education Agency, which made the State Board of Education’s list of instructional materials it deems “high quality” with a final majority vote for approval Nov. 15.
The materials “are designed with teachers in mind, crafted around the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), showcase the diversity of Texas, and provide a rigorous, knowledge- building foundation of learning and cultural literacy for students,” according to the TEA website.
School districts opting to use the lessons as they were designed can receive extra funding — $60 per student, officials have said.
Associate Superintendent of Instruction and Innovation Brittany Swanson said Hutto ISD is satisfied with its current reading and languagearts materials but is taking the math curriculum into consideration.
Should the school district choose to introduce new materials, it will present them to the community to gather feedback and then the school board for approval.
“Most important to us is the success of all of our students,” Swanson said. “We’re going to look at our existing curriculum and any opportunities that we have to improve our current curriculum. And so, one of the primary things we look at is to ensure the coverage of the TEKS. And one thing that’s very important to us is the grade-level rigor. We want to ensure that our students in Hutto ISD have materials that push them above and beyond grade level.”
Swanson said the school district also wants to ensure its curriculum is representative of its educators and learners.
“It’s just really important to us that any curriculum or content is welcoming and supportive of all of our staff and students, regardless of their religion or background, and so we want to make sure that we have an inclusive and diverse and rich curriculum to teach from,” Swanson said.
Cross- disciplinary approach
The Bluebonnet Learning curriculum was designed to have a cross-disciplinary approach, using reading and language arts to further or establish concepts in other subject areas, such as history and social studies, officials said.
This cross-disciplinary approach includes religious teachings, such as the Golden Rule, which has variations across many faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and others.
Despite the principle being present in various religions, the Bluebonnet Learning materials heavily reference Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from the Bible.
Parent Michele Johnson, whose two children have gone through the Taylor ISD system, said the rule is a good topic to teach young minds, but the focus on Christianity may lead to bullying due to religious differences like one of her daughters experienced.
“Once you get into, like third, fourth, fifth grade, those kids are already picking on each other. … Some of them already know that they all go to different churches, or some of them aren’t religious at all. That’s where I think some of these topics brought out in a classroom could cause contention and adversity and bullying,” Johnson said.
Other parents agreed when asked on a Taylor community Facebook forum about the materials, including Sterling Parker Jones, a Christian parent who shared an email she sent to the Texas education board in November.
“While my faith is central to my family’s values, I firmly believe that religious education belongs in households and places of worship, not public schools,” her message reads. “The integration of religious practices, including prayer and Bible instruction, in classrooms risks undermining the diverse and inclusive environment that public education seeks to provide.”
The shared letter sparked a slew of responses from other users, from feeling informed to disagreement.
“(A)s a Christian parent as well I will have to say after reading your post it shed a whole new light in regards to this topic. I don’t think I even thought of the diverse views that might alienate students and families because everyone may have a different religion if one at all so I stand in agreement with not putting religion in school,” one woman replied.
American history and Christianity
Those who dissented from the notion religious education should be separate from public education argued Christianity is critical to understanding U.S. history.
“No one is claiming that Christianity is the only element of Western civilization, but rather merely an indispensable one. Someone in our country who is biblically illiterate is not a fully or welleducated person,” wrote one man on the Facebook post.
Aside from the inclusion of religious teachings, the cross-disciplinary approach of the materials raises concerns for Hutto parent Andrea Elizondo, whose third-grade son attends Cottonwood Creek Elementary School.
With dyslexia, Elizondo said her son already has trouble keeping up with the current materials in his class and the Bluebonnet Learning reading materials may confuse him even more.
“I’ve seen firsthand how the current curriculum can be discouraging for students who are not yet reading at grade level,” she said. “Instead of increasing the rigor, we should be more concerned about creating a supportive environment that fosters their growth and confidence in reading. … Our youngest learners need simplified curriculum that builds foundational skills, and I just worry that it seems like this (Bluebonnet Learning materials) would be expanding the curriculum to some extent, which increases its complexity.”
According to a presentation by Swanson at a winter school board workshop, Hutto ISD uses HMH Reading for its kindergarten through fifth grade reading and languagearts curriculum.
The presentation also revealed the reading materials, in addition to the school district’s materials for phonics and math — Haggerty, Just Right Reader and Carnegie, respectively — are not on the stateapproved list.
However, Swanson assured trustees the materials were still “high quality” and that some instructionalmaterial vendors did not submit their curriculum due to time constraints in the state board’s review process.
“That does not mean that the product that we’re using was declined, it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t make the list. It means that the vendor did not submit for that review,” Swanson said that night.
Regarding aiding students who have difficulty in the classroom, Swanson said Hutto ISD utilizes a multitiered system of support that provides intervention and “scaffolding.”
Scaffolding is when an instructor provides temporary support for students to advance their comprehension and skills, according to eduglossary. org.
During a student’s progression, the educator will incrementally scale back their support and have the student take on more responsibility in their education.
“We highly encourage and support … the assurance of intervention and support. … But ultimately, we don’t want to ever deny a child the opportunity to learn the grade-level curriculum, and so we want to ensure that we support all of our students with the interventions that they need to keep up and be supported with their grade-level expectations,” Swanson said.
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Instead of increasing the rigor, we should be more concerned about creating a supportive environment that fosters their growth and confidence in reading.”
— Andrea Elizondo, Hutto ISD parent
