USA Texas schools get incentives for Bible-based teaching

Schools in the US state of Texas are to receive extra money in future if they follow a biblically based curriculum. The Republican-majority Board of Education there approved a curriculum that incorporates biblical content into the reading and writing lessons of primary school pupils. Schools can decide for themselves whether to follow it - but there are financial incentives of up to 60 dollars per pupil per year.

Supporters argue that Christianity is an important part of American society. Critics, on the other hand, stress that the curriculum strongly favors Christianity over other faiths and could therefore violate the US Constitution. Furthermore, the content is not age-appropriate. The biblical content is so dominant that pupils have little time to develop reading fluency and other important skills.

Republicans in other states in the south of the USA have also recently tried to give religion more weight in public schools. In Louisiana, for example, the Ten Commandments are to be displayed in classrooms and lecture halls at state schools and universities. Civil rights groups consider this to be unconstitutional and are taking legal action against it.

SDA