The Freedom From Religion Foundation and other leading secular organizations have sent a letter today to Texas superintendents urging them to reject a new curriculum that risks imposing state-sponsored religious beliefs on students, violating their First Amendment rights.
FFRF, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Center for Inquiry are the groups that have crafted the letter to Texas superintendents asking them and their school boards not to adopt the newly approved K-5 Bluebonnet reading language arts curriculum. The curriculum has faced widespread criticism since the Texas Education Agency introduced it in May for embedding religious content that favors certain forms of Christianity over all other religious perspectives. Despite overwhelming public outcry, the State Board of Education approved the Bluebonnet curriculum in an 8-7 vote on Nov. 22.
“This curriculum is a blatant attempt to score political points with white Christian nationalists, who only approve of Texas meddling in religion when the state is promoting their preferred religious doctrine,” notes Sam Grover, senior litigation counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The Constitution protects all people — whether they are Christian, belong to a minority religion, or are nonreligious — from government overreach in matters of faith. Families, not the government, should decide the religious or nonreligious upbringing of their children.”
Representatives of other organizations involved in drafting the letter agree.
“State politicians are trying to indoctrinate our children by imposing a set of religious beliefs on them,” says Chloe Kempf, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Doing so would violate students’ constitutional rights to be free of state-sponsored religious coercion and put certain students at risk of bullying, harassment, and stigmatization. Students of all religious backgrounds deserve to feel included and welcomed in school. School districts must reject the Bluebonnet curriculum’s religious teachings. Families and faith communities have the right to instill religious beliefs, or none at all — not the government.”
“School districts should steer clear of this deeply flawed, bible-infused curriculum,” states Daniel Mach, the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief director. “Public schools are not Sunday schools, and Texas students and their families deserve better.”
“Students and their families, not politicians or public school officials, should decide if, when and how to engage with religion,” remarks Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “We urge all Texas school districts to reject this bible-infused curriculum, which is part of a Christian nationalist scheme to impose their religious beliefs on public school students. Public schools should be open and welcoming to all of our children.”
“The Bluebonnet curriculum represents a clear and obvious Establishment Clause violation, even if Texas legislators have decided to pretend otherwise,” says Richard Conn, general counsel for the Center for Inquiry. “We urge school superintendents not to make that same mistake and instead to stand up for the rights and Constitutionally protected freedoms of the students, families, and communities they serve.”
The letter sent to superintendents can be accessed here.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all. For more information on the ACLU, visit www.aclu.org.
Americans United is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Learn more at www.au.org.
The Center for Inquiry strives to foster a secular society based on reason, science, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. Our vision is a world where people value evidence and critical thinking, where superstition and prejudice subside, and where science and compassion guide public policy.
