The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to make Bible passages required reading for public school students across the state, in a decision affecting more than 5 million children.

The Republican-controlled board approved the new required reading list by a vote of 9-5-1. Among the mandated texts are sections of the Book of Exodus (Shemos) for fifth graders and Tehillim perek 23 for seventh graders. The broader list also includes works by authors such as E.B. White, Shel Silverstein, Aesop, Kurt Vonnegut, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.

Friday’s board discussion focused on implementation timelines and questions over how much autonomy individual teachers should retain in selecting required texts.

Republican board member Julie Pickren defended the list, telling The Texas Tribune that engaging directly with foundational texts allows students to understand the moral and philosophical traditions underlying American civilization.

Board member Evelyn Brooks, who opposed the measure, argued during the hearing that the mandate strips teachers of autonomy they have held for years and called the move unconstitutional, though she acknowledged the board’s authority to proceed regardless of her view.

Antero Garcia, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education and a former high school English teacher, told ABC News the new reading list marks a significant shift in Texas public education, calling it a reshaping of what students learn over 13 years of compulsory schooling. He noted that Texas’s educational decisions often influence other states, raising the possibility that similar mandates could spread elsewhere.