Texas Board Gives Final Approval To Bible Course Guidelines

The Abilene (TX) Reporter News and the Dallas Morning News both report that on Friday, the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval to guidelines for elective courses on the impact of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament on the History and Literature of Western Civilization. (Full text of Guidelines and summary of public comments). By a vote of 10-5, the Board adopted general guidelines rather than the more specific ones urged by some state legislators concerned with the constitutionality of the courses. The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this month that state Attorney General Greg Abbott told the state board that the proposed guidelines appeared to comply with the First Amendment's requirement of neutrality, but that he could not say whether any particular course would be constitutional without reviewing the details of how the guidelines are implemented in the course. Because the guidelines received a two-thirds vote, schools will be able to put courses in place for this fall. (See prior related posting.)