Texas' English curriculum: What would Jesus do?

Christianity, the Bible and Jesus are mentioned nearly four times more often than Islam, the Koran and Muhammad in a new English Language Arts curriculum adopted by some Texas districts this year, reports Troy Closson in the New York Times.

The state-sponsored curriculum, adapted from a reading program by Amplify, references religious texts "when relevant for historical and literary value,” not as religious indoctrination, say state education leaders. The "Bluebonnet" curriculum is optional, but districts get $40 per student to pay for the materials.

"Fifth graders examine a psalm in a poetry unit," writes Closson. "First-grade students discuss the parable of the prodigal son alongside stories like The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” While the old Amplify curriculum teaches about the British royal family and Cinderella in a unit on royalty, the "Texas adaptation includes a new 18-page lesson on King Solomon."

In both versions of the curriculum, second graders learn about Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks in a unit on "ordinary people who fought for causes," he writes. Texas adds Queen Esther, an Old Testament heroine that "conservative Christians have turned to in recent years as a model of female leadership."

Historians note that the new curriculum says, “the Spaniards sent missionaries who worked to introduce the Native people to Christianity.” The Amplify version says "convert," which seems more accurate.

In lessons on slavery, the Texas curriculum tells students that opposition to slavery was "driven by colonists morally opposed to the practice, often based on their beliefs as Christians."

My Jewish granddaughter will start kindergarten in Texas in a few years. I have no problem with her learning about the larger culture in which she lives, nor do I think Islam (or Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism) should receive equal time with the majority religion of our country. I hope she'll learn that not everything in textbooks is the gospel truth. And what "gospel truth" means. Of course, she lives in Austin, which is unlikely to adopt the Bluebonnet curriculum. Lord knows what they'll teach her.