Secular Darkness: Religious Right Involvement in Texas Public Education, 1963-1989

The crusade of the Religious Right to shape Texas public schools in the sixties, seventies and eighties had an impact on the direction and comprehensiveness of education received by students. Although religious rightists lost in most confrontations with public education, their influence came in delaying the development of new education programs and in altering the programs that already existed. Attacks from religious rightists also provoked some overreaction from the educational establishment and caused some confusion by exploiting supposed weaknesses in the public education system.