10.20.26
“Dan Patrick Working To Get Rid of Vulgar Books in School Libraries”
From Donna Garner
[COMMENTS BY DONNA GARNER: Dan Patrick as Tex. Lt. Gov. and Chair of the Texas Senate continues to be a staunch, conservative leader.
He is working to put pressure on school leaders to get rid of the vulgar books that serve to pollute the minds of our Texas school students.
All who care about the future of our nation must focus on the “leaders of tomorrow” who are our nation’s youth.]
10.20.26 – Dallas Morning News
“Dallas ISD Pulls Library Books for Review Amid Pressure from Dan Patrick”
By Silas Allen
Excerpts from this article:
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/dallas-isd-books-review-22475685.php
…Dallas ISD pulled those books, and hundreds of others, for review in the wake of an August news conference in which Lt. Gov Dan Patrick threatened to crack down on libraries that have “vulgar” titles in their collections.
After review, some books may return to the library.
Others may be moved to another grade level or removed entirely...
…Texas lawmakers passed a bill giving parents and school boards a bigger role in deciding what books are included on library shelves…
NEW TEXAS LAW TIGHTENS RULES ON LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
Last year, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 13, which bars school libraries from possessing profane or indecent material and requires districts to give the public access to their full district and campus library catalogs.
The bill also gives school boards, rather than librarians, final authority over library materials and requires districts to establish a school library advisory council if the lesser of 10% of students’ parents or 50 parents petition for one.
…In an Aug. 19 [2026] news conference, Patrick vowed to pass a bill punishing school districts that don’t remove books with graphic content from library shelves by docking them a letter grade in the state’s annual A-F accountability scores.
Districts that receive low A-F scores for consecutive years are at risk of state takeover, so the move could have consequences for struggling districts.
Patrick also warned districts that don’t remove objectionable books could eventually see their funding cut but offered no details about when or how that would happen.
He referenced a list of about 2,000 books compiled by the conservative activist group Protecting Texas Children as examples of titles he wants removed.
“We’re coming for the books,” Patrick warned district superintendents. “We ask that you do it on your own and remove these books.”
Dan Patrick [the Repub. Lt. Gov. of Texas and Chair of the Texas Senate] faces Democratic challenger [Democrat] Vikki Goodwin, a state representative from Travis County, in the Nov. 3 [2026] election…
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9.2.26 – Dallas Morning News
“See Texas' Required Reading List That Includes Bible Verses and Stories for Public School Students”
By Isaac Yu and Carol Taylor
Excerpts from this article:
https://www.dallasnews.com/projects/2026/texas-public-schools-required-reading/
Texas is the only state to mandate Bible readings in public schools.
…Texas is the only state to craft its own literature requirements [K-12] for public school students…
…The list will start rolling out into public schools in 2030.
Here’s the final list of works released by the Texas Education Agency – K-12.
KINDERGARTEN
April Rain Song by Langston Hughes
The Bald Eagle by Norman Pearl
The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule by Stan BerenstainBlueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Cinderella/Cenicienta by Francesca Boada (adapted by)
Classic Nursery Rhymes (selected excerpts: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hickory Dickery Dock, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Little Boy Blue, Little Miss Muffet, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Old King Cole, One Two Buckle My Shoe) by Nicola Baxter (compiler)
George Washington and the Cherry Tree (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jim Aylesworth
The Grasshopper and the Ants by Jerry Pinkney (retold from Aesop)
How Grandmother Spider Brought Fire (A Choctaw Story) (excerpt from A Year Full of Stories: 52 Folktales and Legends from Around the World) by Angela McAllister
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
L is for Lone Star: A Texas Alphabet by Carol Crane
The Little Red Hen (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
The Lion and the Mouse (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
Luna Loves Art by Joseph Coelho
A Picture Book of George Washington by David A. Adler
A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison by David A. Adler
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Three Little Pigs / Los tres cerditos by Patricia Seibert
The Tortoise and the Hare (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
You Are Special: A Story for Everyone by Max Lucado
FIRST GRADE
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winters
Abuela by Arthur Dorros
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School by Herman Parish
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers (selected excerpts: Won't You Be My Neighbor, I Like You As You Are, Children Can, Smile in Your Pocket, Take My Time, What Can You Hear?, I'd Like to Be Like Mom and Dad, Summer Rain, Are You Brave?, The King and the Ocean, Then Your Heart is Full of Love, The Truth Will Make You Free, You're Special, Perfect Day, I'm Proud of You) by Fred Rogers
The Boy Who Cried Wolf (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
Classic Nursery Rhymes (selected excerpts: Jack Be Nimble, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, Simple Simon, Sing a Song of Sixpence, There Was an Old Woman, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Yankee Doodle) by Nicola Baxter
Curious About the White House by Kate Waters
Daniel Boone (excerpt from A Book of Americans) by Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
Davy Crockett (English) by Emma E. Haldy
Invitation (excerpt from Where the Sidewalk Ends) by Shel Silverstein
Jack and the Beanstalk by Thomas Nelson
Jonah and the Whale (Book of Jonah, Chapter 1, Verses 1-5, 10-17, and Chapter 2, Verse 10) International Children’s Bible: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie dePaola
The Life of Paul Revere by Maria Nelson
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Medio Pollito/Half Chicken: A Folktale in Spanish and English by Alma Flor Ada
Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta
A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass by David A. Adler
Amazing Americans: Pocahontas by Sharon Coan
Red Riding Hood by James Marshall
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson (adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) by Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
SECOND GRADE
America Is… by Louise Borden
Beauty and the Beast by Marianna Mayer
Bluebonnet at the Alamo by Mary Brooke Casad
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
David and Goliath (excerpt from The Children's Book of Heroes) by William J. Bennett (editor)
The Donkey in the Lion's Skin (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) by Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
Falling Up (excerpt from Falling Up) by Shel Silverstein
James Madison: The 4th President by Josh Gregory
John Henry by Julius Lester
Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg (retold and illustrated by)
The Legend of the Dipper (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg (retold and illustrated by)
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
Sam: The Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Susan B. Anthony by Laura K. Murray
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
Teammates by Peter Golenbock
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
Try, Try Again (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) by William J. Bennett (editor)
We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow
Winnie-the-Pooh (Chapter 1 "In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin" and Chapter 2 "In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets Into a Tight Place") by A.A. Milne
THIRD GRADE
Abraham Lincoln (excerpt from A Book of Americans) by Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
Archimedes and the Door of Science (Chapter 1 "Who Was Archimedes?," Chapter 4 "Archimedes and his Lever," Chapter 9 "Archimedes and Numbers") by Jeanne Bendick
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
The Fisherman and His Wife by Rachel Isadora
George Washington (excerpt from A Book of Americans) by Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
Icarus and Daedalus (excerpt from Classic Myths to Read Aloud) by William F. Russell
King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft
ROAR! – Daniel and the Lion's Den – Children's Adapted Version by CBN
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford
Smart (excerpt from Where the Sidewalk Ends) by Shel Silverstein
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (excerpt from Aesop's Fables) by Aesop (adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
Benjamin Franklin (Life Stories/Biografías) by Gillian Gosman
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Thomas Jefferson (excerpt from A Book of Americans) by Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) by Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada
The Wind in the Willows: Retold from the Kenneth Grahame original (Chapters "The River Bank," "The Open Road," "The Wild Wood," and "Mr. Badger") by Kenneth Grahame
FOURTH GRADE
The Ant and the Dove (excerpt from Aesop's Fables) by Aesop (adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Picture Book Edition) by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Brave Irene by William Steig
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow (excerpt from Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow and a World of Other Stories, pages 11-21) by Geraldine McCaughrean
Sea Fever by John Masefield
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Part 1 "The Winning of Kinghood" Chapters 1 and 2) by Howard Pyle (adapted by Tania Zamorsky)
Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali by David Wisniewski
Treasure Island (Classic Adventures) by Robert Louis Stevenson (adapted by Jacqueline Dembar Greene)
Who Was Leonardo Da Vinci? (Chapter 1 "Who Was Leonardo DaVinci?", Chapter 2 "The Unwanted Boy", Chapter 3 "The Art Studio" and Chapter 4 "The Wider World") by Roberta Edwards
The Necessity of Humility (Book of Luke, Chapter 14, Verses 7-11) by New International Reader's Version: New Testament
FIFTH GRADE
Adventures of Don Quixote (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Argentina Palacios
Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
The Colonization of Texas: Missions and Settlers by Stephanie Kuligowski
Declaration of Independence in Translation: What It Really Means by Amy Jane Leavitt
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" (speech to the Second Virginia Convention) by Patrick Henry
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Independence Bell – July 4, 1776 by Anonymous
The Mayflower Compact by William Brewster, William Bradford, Edward Winslow
The Monkey as King (excerpts from Aesop's Fables) by Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro
Moses (Book of Exodus, Chapter 3 “The Burning Bush” Verses 1-22 and Chapter 14 “The Parting of the Red Sea” Verses 1-30) New International Reader's Version: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Sam Houston: A Fearless Statesman by Joanne Mattern
Thomas Jefferson Third President 1801-1809 by Mike Venezia
Who was Davy Crockett? (selected excerpts: Who was Davy Crockett?, A Pioneer Family, Young David, On His Own, Crockett Speaks Up, David Goes to Washington, The Alamo, Folk Hero) by Gail Herman
SIXTH GRADE
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President (Chapter 7 "The Road Back to God") by Joe Wheeler
The Blue and The Gray by Francis Miles Finch
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
General Order 108 to the "Soldiers of the Armies of the United States" by Ulysses S. Grant
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
The Power of the Dog by Rudyard Kipling
A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett
Do Not Be Anxious (Book of Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 25-34) English Standard Version: New Testament
The Peace of the Wild Things by Wendell Berry
SEVENTH GRADE
The Diary of a Young Girl, translated from Dutch by B.M. Mooyart by Anne Frank (translated by B.M. Mooyaart)
Blessed is the Match by Hannah Szenes
Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport by George Washington
The Shepherd's Psalm (Book of Psalms, Chapter 23) King James Version: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Eight Beatitudes (Book of Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses 1-12) King James Version: New Testament
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Thank You, M'am by Langston Hughes
EIGHTH GRADE
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Harrison Bergeron (excerpt from Welcome to the Monkey House) by Kurt Vonnegut
The Man in the Arena Passage (excerpt from Citizenship in a Republic speech by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910) by Teddy Roosevelt
O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman
To Everything There is a Season (Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3) King James Version: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Night by Elie Wiesel
Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3 Tanakh: Jewish Publication Society 1917
The Perils of Indifference (excerpt from White House Official Transcript of Remarks at Millennium Evening) by Elie Wiesel
The Survivor by Primo Levi
ENGLISH I
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Clever Teens' Guide to the Russian Revolution by Felix Rhodes
I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read
Lyceum Address by Abraham Lincoln
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain (excerpt Chapters 1, 2 and 6) by Michael Paterson
Love is not all by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Parable of the Prodigal Son (Book of Luke, Chapter 15, Verses 11-32) English Standard Translation: New Testament
ENGLISH II
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
General Douglas MacArthur's Farewell Speech to the Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (excerpt paragraph 3: Duty, Honor, Country) by Douglas MacArthur
Eulogy for President Reagan by Margaret Thatcher
Pericles' Funeral Oration (excerpt of Book 2 from Chapters 34-46 of History of the Peloponnesian War) by Thucydides (edited by M.I. Finley and translated by Rex Warner)
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Book of Job (Book of Job, Chapters 1-7,11,14,19,28,38-42) New International Reader's Version: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
I've Been to the Mountaintop by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chapter 1 The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction (selected excerpts: Chapter 1 The ‘Middle’ Ages?, Chapter 2 People and Their Lifestyles, Chapter 3 The Big Idea: Christian Salvation, Chapter 4 Kingship, Lordship, and Government) by Miri Rubin
ENGLISH III
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Dear Mr. McCarthy, I am very real (excerpt, Section 1 from Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage) by Kurt Vonnegut
What is Capitalism? (excerpt, Section 1 from Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal) by Ayn Rand
Flattering Unction (excerpt, Chapter 1 from The Vision of the Anointed) by Thomas Sowell
The Veldt (excerpt from The Illustrated Man) by Ray Bradbury
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Adam and Eve (Book of Genesis, Chapters 2 and 3) New International Reader's Version: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
ENGLISH V
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Hamlet and His Problems (excerpt from The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism) by T.S. Eliot
If by Rudyard Kipling
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Definition of Love (Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13) English Standard Version: New Testament
Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson
The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne by Anthony Trollope
When I Was One-and-Twenty by A.E. Housman
MORE INFORMATION
- 9.4.26 – “Elected TX State Bd. of Ed. Brings Back Love for America” – from Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE
- 6.26.26 – “What Students Will Be Taught – Major Decisions by TX SBOE – from Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE
- 4.13.26 – “TX SBOE Decides Against Muslim Indoctrination” – from Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE
- 4.2.26 – “SBOE Members Are Vital to the Future of Texas’ Students” – by Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE
- 9.17.26 – “Texas Hero Helping To Lead Children Back to Patriotism” – from Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE
- 1.13.26 – “Bringing Traditional, Classical Literature Back to Texas Schools” – by Donna Garner – VIEW ARTICLE