In May of 2024, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) began “to develop state-owned textbooks (and curriculum) that (were) subject to approval by the State Board of Education (SBOE)” under House Bill 1605.
This curriculum is now known as the Bluebonnet Learning instructional materials.
Public schools have the option to switch to this curriculum, with a state-provided financial incentive of $60 per student for schools who choose to do so.
The curriculum’s primary goal is to build literacy and historical knowledge without promoting a specific religion. However, some argue that the decision, which requires students to read and analyze biblical passages, brings Christian literature into K-5 schooling.
“Parents should realize that there’s a certain amount of controversy that’s related to the adoption of the Bluebonnet program in that the Bluebonnet program has references to particularly Christian religion,” History and Social Sciences Department Chair David Fisher said.
On the other hand, Malcolm K. and Minda Brachman Master Teaching Chair Martin Stegemoeller believes the curriculum’s controversy to be minimal — but he also suspects that the program will not fully accomplish its goals.
“I understand the idea that they can have a learning two-for by purposefully using specific stories as the background for learning in other disciplines,” Stegemoeller said. “I really doubt, however, that religion is something that can be learned in a fragmentary way by piecing together backstories from math problems. It requires far more than that. So, I think this effort will be ineffectual, regardless of the separation of church and state issues on the surface.”
Another issue lies in the implementation of the curriculum — because the drafting of Bluebonnet occurred behind closed doors, teacher involvement is relatively low despite the generous financial incentives. Outspoken critics have also commented on the potential one-sidedness of a curriculum centered around “Texan” education. History lessons can be overly simplistic, leading to binary explanations of historical events. This oversimplification can lead to misleading descriptions of historical events. Take the American Revolution, for example.
“(The curriculum) is presented in very black and white patriotic terms. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington together work to make all Americans free, that kind of thing,” Fisher said. “Yes, they were the leaders of a rebellion against Great Britain, they were revolutionary figures and they had some great ideas about independence and human liberty, but they also owned slaves. And I think an elementary school student can handle that bit of information that happened to be a fact.”
However, Fisher believes that although the curriculum may go against one’s personal religious beliefs, children studying at schools where the Bluebonnet Curriculum is implemented will likely still receive quality education. Many parents, after all, care more about their children learning to read rather than the actual content of the curriculum.
“The Bluebonnet Program is a minor, minor issue. I don’t think most people really care that much about it. And most parents are probably just concerned, is my child being taught how to read? That would be the number one (priority),” Fisher said. “Second to that, if anybody really does think about curriculum in elementary school, it’s probably more about being taught how to read at an even younger age using, say, phonics as the principal delivery method.”
Even with the new inclusion of religious texts, the goals of the Bluebonnet Curriculum remain the same: to teach younger students how to read.
“The Bluebonnet Program is exclusive about referencing Christian or Judeo-Christian reading matter and includes that (sort of education) in their program,” Fisher said.
There are some nation-wide issues that indirectly affect the passage of programs like Bluebonnet Curriculum — in particular, through gerrymandering, certain districts may be more prone to the goals and agendas of one party. And recently, one of the indirect byproducts was a “partisan” education program.
“This is the problem of gerrymandering across the country, that in the South, legislatures are dominated by the Republican Party, and in the Northeast and in California, legislatures are dominated by the Democratic Party,” Fisher said. “And the reason why that’s the case ultimately has to do with the right of states to figure out their own way of establishing districts, and that political power parties are not prohibited if they run the legislatures from drawing those districts. It’s sort of like telling people who are prone to cheat that they can set up the rules against cheating.”
While gerrymandering helps parties achieve certain agendas, programs like the Bluebonnet Curriculum are not merely the consequence of electoral results during the 2024 election.
“If it hadn’t happened in 2024, it could have happened in 2026,” Fisher said.
