Bluebonnet Learning

How Texas public schools are supporting a Christian curriculum

In my lifetime, we’ve gone from abolishing school prayer in public schools to incentivizing the adoption of Christian-infused curriculum (Texas will send $60 per student to the schools who adopt Bluebonnet Learning).

Bluebonnet Learning claims that it is merely providing information about religion (which is permissible in public schools—teaching the tenets of the five major world religions or sharing passages from their religious texts does not violate the separation of church and state). On closer examination, however, Bluebonnet favors what they call the “Judeo-Christian tradition” with lessons drawn from the Christian Bible. For instance, you will find a lesson about Esther from the Old Testament that feels as familiar as any Sunday school class my kids have ever attended.

But should Sunday school materials make it into a state-funded public school curriculum? This teaching about Esther isn’t merely giving information about the Old Testament (or Tanakh—depending on which religious group we’re discussing). It’s a lesson that expects students to retain a “moral of the story.” The introductory paragraph asks students to identify “character traits.” Could that injunction be any more KONOS homeschool curriculum?