Officials in Texas have backed a controversial new public school curriculum that would incorporate Christian lessons from the Bible as early as kindergarten. Eight out of 15 state school board members voted Tuesday to keep the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum on a list of K-5 reading and English language arts materials that could be used for the 2025-26 school year.

“Several books of the Christian Bible describe a man who lived a long, long time ago — nearly 2,000 years ago — in a part of the world that is very far from here. The man was named Jesus. One of the books of the Bible describes Jesus giving a talk atop a small mountain,” the materials reads.

Texas school board officials have approved new course materials that schools are incentivized to incorporate into their classrooms. Called “Bluebonnet Learning,” parts of these materials include religious lessons that critics say undermine religious freedom,