Some want State Board of Education to slow down on considering curriculum this week.

Religious freedom advocates want the State Board of Education to slow down the adoption of Bible course curriculum standards, which they say provide little guidance on how to teach the course within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution.

Approved by the Legislature in 2007, the course will focus on the Bible's impact on history and literature.

The law calls for the material to be presented in a neutral manner without proselytizing. For the first time, the law set out formal requirements for Bible classes, which some public schools were already offering, and required the board to adopt curriculum standards.

Preliminary approval could come this week.

But Kathy Miller of the Texas Freedom Network said the board is proposing to adopt the same loose curriculum standards that preceded the legislation and that do not specifically address religion or the Bible.

Districts need specific guidance on how to teach the Bible while protecting religious freedoms of students and avoiding lawsuits, Miller said.

Jonathan Saenz, legislative affairs director for the Free Market Foundation, disagreed. He said there is no need to create a different curriculum.

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