A contentious curriculum with a Bible focus is being considered by the board of trustees for the Conroe Independent School District.
Some school board members expressed interest in adopting the curriculum during Tuesday’s more than five-hour special meeting, but speakers asked members to hold off on implementing the teachings.
Audrey Young, a member of the State Board of Education who voted in favor of the Bluebonnet curriculum in November, explained to the board that the curriculum is not intended to teach religion but rather to promote literature.
According to Young, the Bible is the work that is most frequently cited in Western literature.
We must rely on the vocabulary, nuances, and information we learned early in life to comprehend what we are still learning later on, she said, in order to help our students learn more and comprehend what they are reading as they develop as readers from young children to adults.
The Golden Rule, a concept found in many religious texts that emphasizes individuals should treat others the way they would like to be treated, was the subject of one curriculum lesson that Young cited.
According to her, it incorporates knowledge from various religions. Every religion expresses the golden rule in some form.
According to Young, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism are all mentioned in the curriculum.
A youngster in the school district named Lynn Greaves pleaded with the trustees to end the curriculum talks.
According to Greaves, it’s simply introducing religion into unnecessary locations. It targets children with selected Christian advertising. In a kindergarten subject on kings and queens, for instance, children are taught that King Solomon constructed the Jerusalem temple.
According to a Bluebonnet curriculum handout, students must be taught biblical narratives in order to completely interact with the literature because many canonical works of Western literature cannot be fully comprehended without such prior knowledge. The curriculum handout then cites writers John Steinbeck, Herman Melville, and William Faulkner.
According to the program, the Bible is the source of hundreds of unique English expressions.
Adopting curricula that incorporates top-notch teaching resources would earn school districts $40 per student. According to the state board, districts who decide to implement the Bluebonnet Learning program will additionally receive $20 annually per student.
Greaves informed school board members on Tuesday that Conroe ISD is excellent because it is an independent school system, which is another reason why you really shouldn’t. This is a wonderful school system in Texas, which is why my family came here. Texas is not known for its education and has among of the lowest literacy rates in the nation. Please don’t just lower your standards and follow the rest of the state in order to earn a little extra cash.
Later in the year, board trustees will vote on the curriculum and hear suggestions from a committee that was assigned to provide input.
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