Texas Senate passes religious, anti-DEI education bills

• The effort to give parents public money for private school tuition, a legislative priority of Gov. Greg Abbott, has commanded much attention this session, but other education bills would change the values Texas public-school children are taught.

Driving the news: The Texas House will now consider four bills passed out of the Texas Senate last week with strong Republican support.

• They range from increasing religious expression in grades K-12 to banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies in K-12 schools.

Here are the details:

Library book selection

Senate Bill 13 would give parents the option to see what their children are checking out of their school library.

• The bill, filed by Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney, would also require school boards to create library advisory councils to recommend which books should be added or removed from libraries. All Republicans and three Democrats voted for the bill.

Context: Paxton says the law clarifies the rights of parents to know what books their children see or check out from their school libraries.

The other side: "It's imperative that when we say 'parents' and 'parental choice' and 'parents are the final say' that we include all parents — that we're not just giving voice to a select few," public-school librarian Lucy Podmore told the Texas Tribune.

The big picture: Book bans have been increasing nationwide over the past few years.

• Texas leads the nation in challenging book titles.

Flashback: Two years ago, Frisco state Rep. Jared Patterson authored a bill that would limit what books students can check out from their school libraries.

• The bill passed but was challenged before it could go into effect. It remains blocked after the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the law was unconstitutional.

Ten Commandments and prayer

SB 10 would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms, and SB 11 would allow school boards to require periods for prayer and reading "the Bible or other religious text."

The big picture: Louisiana was the first state to mandate schools display the Ten Commandments, but a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.

• "This may be, in fact, the first major step in the revival of religion, which is desperately needed, in our country," President Trump said after the law took effect.

Zoom in: SB 10, filed by state Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, is one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's legislative priorities. The bill passed the Senate along party lines.

• All Republicans and three Democrats, including Sen. Royce West of Dallas, voted for SB 11.

The other side: Dallas Democratic Sen. Nathan Johnson said the bills infringe on the religious freedoms of non-Christians.

• "I think you're expanding the role of our public education system to include matters that particularly conservatives have previously said is a private matter," Johnson said, per NBC5.

Flashback: A similar Ten Commandments bill did not get a vote in the House during the last legislative session.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Texas already prohibits DEI initiatives at public universities, and state senators have passed a bill that would do the same for grades K-12.

State of play: The DEI ban at colleges took effect last year and eliminates offices or programs that support people of color or members of the LGBTQ community.

• SB 12 would bar school districts from considering DEI in hiring decisions and would prohibit schools from creating policies or training programs that reference race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Context: The bill would not limit school districts from "acknowledging or teaching the significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months."

Threat level: If passed, the bill would allow districts to fire an employee or contractor involved in or assigning DEI work.