Texas Textbooks Face Big Fix‑Up After Mistake Spree

The state’s new “Bluebonnet” reading guide—intended to introduce more religious content into schools—has been discovered riddled with mistakes. Teachers and officials identified hundreds of errors after the books were distributed to classrooms in 2024.

Board Takes Action

• Corrections approved by the Texas Board of Education to fix facts, punctuation, and problematic images.
• Vote: 8 Republicans vs 6 Democrats; a close decision that underscored concerns about the impact on state tests.
• A board member warned that a single typo in a math problem could alter the answer and affect learning outcomes. Another highlighted that even minor errors merit correction.

Scope of Revisions

• The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will implement ≈1,900 changes, including repeated edits across teacher guides and student workbooks.
• Most updates address clarity or grammar rather than major factual inaccuracies.

Adoption Status

• Uncertain how many districts have actually begun using the guide this year.
• In August, over 300 schools announced adoption—roughly a quarter of all Texas districts.

Implementation Timeline

• Online versions to be updated within a month.
• No announced schedule for printing new hard copies or cost estimates.

Looking Ahead

A board member who supported the changes cautioned that this could set a poor precedent for future publications. In response, a TEA official pledged to add more reviewers to catch problems earlier next time.