Statement on SBOE Approval of Bluebonnet Learning Materials

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 22, 2024

CONTACT: Nicole Hill, [email protected]

On Friday, the State Board of Education approved Bluebonnet Learning, a set of state-created curriculum materials infused with an inappropriate level of Christian and biblical content. Texas AFT President Zeph Capo released the following statement in response:

"Every educator in this state agrees to a Code of Ethics. Among the standards we are expected to uphold by the state of Texas is that we shall not exclude a student from participation in a program, deny benefits to a student, or grant an advantage to a student on the basis of race, color, gender, disability, national origin, religion, family status, or sexual orientation.

Texas has a way of forcing us to violate this standard, usually about the time that the Legislature ends it session and the governor puts his pen to the signature line of so many counterproductive, detrimental bills. Today, though, it is the State Board of Education that has put us in the position of defying our Code of Ethics once more.

On Nov. 22, in a close vote that crossed party lines and was separated only by a last-minute political appointee, the SBOE voted to approve Bluebonnet Learning materials as curriculum resources for Texas public school districts.

These Texas Education Agency-developed open education resources (OER) for English and Spanish language arts and reading K-5 and mathematics K-8 violate the separation of church and state by infusing lessons with Bible-based references more appropriate for Sunday Schools than public schools.

Moreover, they are assaults on the academic freedom of our classrooms and the sanctity of the teaching profession. We have a duty as teachers to make our teaching and learning materials accessible and inclusive of all students in our classrooms. These prescriptive materials cannot meet all learners in all contexts; in fact, they make no effort to do so.

Perhaps what's most insulting about today's vote is that these materials are not just inappropriate - they're bad at what they proclaim to do. Instructional experts have expressed deep concerns about the age-appropriateness of the materials and whether they will be effective reading instruction.

In short, this is a push coming from idealogues, rather than anyone with expertise in educational best practices.

At a moment of profound political division, this curriculum is a concerted effort to "other" and exclude students of differing cultures and religions through state-sponsored instructional materials.

It is the latest evidence that Christian nationalists have bought their way into every governing body of the state, including the SBOE. And they will not stop with inserting Biblical content in English textbooks. We can anticipate what will come next, whether that's the erasure of contributions of marginalized populations in social studies or the minimalization of climate change in science.

Our children's education should not be sold to the highest campaign contributor. Our students deserve to learn truthful and accurate information in their textbooks and their classrooms. It is our duty to provide that to them, and it is the duty of every school district in this state to resist the dollars dangled before them and refuse to use Bluebonnet Learning materials."

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The Texas American Federation of Teachers represents 66,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.7-million-member American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.

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