The Texas State Board of Education approved a plan on Friday the 26th to mandate the study of Bible stories, affecting approximately 5.5 million public school students, according to the Associated Press.

The Republican-controlled board passed the measure with a vote of 9 to 5, with one member abstaining.

Texas has already mandated that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public schools, a decision upheld by a federal appeals court earlier this year. This follows a trend in other Republican-led states to incorporate Christian doctrine into public education.

Specifically, the plan provides a required reading list from elementary through high school levels, which includes various chapters of the Bible. 

Critics argue that these decisions violate the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which courts have long interpreted as requiring the separation of church and state.

On the other hand, supporters state that these measures are reviving fundamental Judeo-Christian values in the school system, which they argue hold significant historical importance.

Other required readings include storybooks inspired by biblical narratives, documents that have significantly influenced American history such as the Gettysburg Address, and representative poems and novels by American authors.

The required reading list is extensive and includes a significant number of non-biblical or non-classical works, such as Aesop's Fables, Native American stories, and children's versions of Don Quixote.

Critics have pointed out that in a state where Latino and Black students make up the majority, a large portion of the list consists of books written by white male authors.

However, such criticism is difficult to separate from the counterargument that allowing race to dictate the purpose and content of education is based on a flawed national perspective.

US NNP = Reporter-in-Chief Sung Ku Hong / Special Correspondent for this publication, NNP info@newsandpost.com