Religion row as Texas makes Bible stories required reading in schools

Dr Martin Luther King Jr's I've Been to the Mountain Top speech and Margaret Thatcher's eulogy for President Ronald Reagan are also on the wider-ranging list.But it is the mandatory religious texts that have drawn fierce opposition from education and civil liberties groups.Students will learn passages about Jesus in the New Testament and read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, under the curriculum.Felicia Martin, executive director of Texas-freedom-network" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="153567" data-entity-type="organization">Texas Freedom Network, a left-wing activist group, said ahead of the vote that the reading list "centres Christianity above all other religious faiths and traditions". "[It has] a very Western-centric view of the world that omits the contributions and the histories of black, brown, indigenous people, of other religious faiths and traditions that are critical to the overall understanding of our history."Others also raised concerns that the mandate risks undermining the independence of teachers to steer their classes."Texas teachers have expressed concerns about the length of the list and the potential loss of teacher autonomy in determining which works are appropriate and relevant for their own classrooms," Clare Haefner of the Texas-classroom-teachers-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="153568" data-entity-type="organization">Texas Classroom Teachers Association told the BBC. Even though the board's final approval reduced the required list, the association says it remains too cumbersome.