House Bill 1605 was passed in 2023, but will not be affecting classrooms until 2029-2030. The delay in implementing the Bill is due to the proposed reading list and numerous concerns from parents, teachers, and students. The main pushback with the initial and subsequent proposed reading list is that it includes biblical scriptures and passages that law makers say tie into the curriculum.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, in a 2024 interview said that the inclusion of religious text would make up only a “small piece” of the curriculum, and would support a more “classical, broad-based liberal arts education.”
This shift could cause many teachers and students to lose access to teach many high-quality, carefully curated favorite readings, activities, and discussions starting in 2029-2030 if the proposed reading list for English classes is passed in June 2026. The House Bill proposes to keep classics such as “Night” and “Fahrenheit 451,” but deletes others such as “Romeo and Juliet” or “Raisin in the Sun.” Some classics may be moved from their current reading progression in English 1 or English 3 and move them to other grade levels. As of right now, Texas gives districts recommendations, not requirements they must meet.
HB1605 would make other material “required” reading as well, including the passages from the Bible. The reading list omits other religious texts to fulfil what Mortath said the TEA’s proposed list and biblical passages would “build vocabulary, build background knowledge”. If adopted as the new required reading list, the changes which are being widely debated now, could begin impacting current instruction.
According to The Coalition of Reading and English Supervisors of Texas (CREST), “HB 1605 (2023) expanded the State Board of Education’s authority to approve High-Quality Instructional Materials and directed the SBOE (State Board of Education) to develop a book list addendum to the ELAR TEKS, with at least one required text at each grade level.”
In fact, a much closer examination of the bill shows that at the HS level, there are 20 full length texts – five in each grade – that are deemed as “required text”. This has been updated as of May 15, 2026 – to require only two texts in each grade. Many who support this bill are quick to point out that not every book must be read in its entirety- however according to the 2023 original language of the Bill, the State would require that at least one proposed book be read in its entirety.
“This list will shape teaching materials, learning, and assessment for nearly 400,000 teachers and 6 million students in K-12 public education across Texas. Educators must have a seat at the table as this list takes shape,” added CREST’s announcement.
High school students will be affected not only by having new reading materials that must be taught, but a new structure of when certain books will be introduced to students. For instance, the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, is most commonly taught in 9th -10th grade, usually because the topic of racial injustice and the use of racial slurs require a firm foundation of understanding and maturity to read and understand the context of the time and situation. In the Bill,the book has been proposed to be dropped down to 8th grade. “Night,” a typically 10th grade book, would be dropped down to 9th grade. “Romeo & Juliet” disappears entirely off the list.
Due to backlash at the initial list, the State has proposed a revised list where it would drop many texts from the initial reading proposal. However, according to the article from WFAA.com, “The revised list, proposed by Republican member Keven Ellis of Lufkin, cut about 100 readings — including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Frederick Douglass’ What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? — though it still includes Bible texts.
“There are other states, many other states, who have recommended reading lists,” Ellis said. “To my knowledge, there is not one that will have a required reading list as robust as this, that will be common for every student across the state.”
Of course there are other concerns that have been raised by teachers and parents to the Senate over the numerous open sessions to discuss the Bill. These concerns have centered on the much more biblical leaning and excluding other religious texts as additional text to be paired with the numerous required text, to the obvious white, male dominated authors, making representation of students, erode from the lists. Lack of representation in reading has been a concern for many years, one many teachers try to close the gap on.
Regardless of these texts being omitted from the list, the requirement of texts would mean that teachers would reduce teacher autonomy and flexibility throughout their year. As was pointed out in a Substack community called “Anger and Clarity,” Frank Strong wrote:
“If you teach high school or middle school English, you know that five long texts is close to a full year’s worth of reading. In other words, it is very likely that these five books per grade level will become the only books assigned in many Texas schools.”
The next, and possibly the final vote of this list, will happen in June, after two delays and votes to keep the discussion of the reading list open.
“I believe that an acceptable list would be one that’s created with teacher expertise, leaning on the strengths of everyone involved in this work,” said Markesha Tisby, president of Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, told WFAA.com. “There’s still time. There’s no prize for making this decision quickly. We have time to build something great for our Texas students, and they deserve it.”
