After facing pressure from conservatives ended Suggested updates In the state’s social studies curriculum scheduled for this year, the state board of education on Tuesday took the step of delaying the review until 2025.
Instead, in an initial 7-2 vote, the board approved a curriculum-only modification with directives to comply with a 2021 state law targeting “critical race theory.” These include the addition of civics and literacy standards. A final vote on the resolution is scheduled for Friday, the last day of the week-long board meeting.
“This is basically a proposal that says we give up,” said the board member. Rebecca Bell MeteroDemocrat.
The elected board was evaluating a recommendation that Texan students could spend kindergarten through second grade learning about Texas, the United States, and world history. From third to fifth grade, students were focused on world history. In grades six through eight, students will focus on the history of America and Texas.
That proposal would have eliminated designated years—fourth grade and seventh grade—for students to study Texas history specifically. In a separate vote on Tuesday, the House voted 8-5 in favor of using the Republican board member Will HickmanThe proposed arrangement for teaching history as a starting point. His method gets kids to have two years of US history and two years of Texas history.
The Texas Education Agency asserted that the original proposal would have increased the teaching of Texas history in general, as it would have been taught at more grade levels. But opponents argued that it reduces the teaching of exceptional Texans.
On Monday, the Texas Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, wrote a letter to the Board of Education threatening legislative intervention if “substantive changes” are not made to the proposal.
“In a stunning reflection of the spirit in which the legislature passed several reforms aimed at protecting children in the last session, the proposed changes would require teachers to, among other things, violate Texas laws by, for example, teaching topics related to critical race theory,” he said. the message.
The provision of Texas history was one of the many changes that were introduced. Other suggested updates included teaching second graders about Juneteenth with a book describing the killing of George Floyd as “brutal” and “sweat-driven” and how the incident sparked national interest in the holiday. The LGBTQ Pride movement was taught in eighth grade along with the civil rights and women’s liberation movements.
But while proponents of the changes said they would be a step forward for inclusion and diversity, lawmakers and parents who spoke in opposition this week argued that they represented “critical race theory” and the indoctrination that the country’s leadership opposes.
Board members who voted to delay the vote said they did not like the proposed arrangement under which children would be taught Texas, US and world history, even though the board initially approved the framework months ago. Now, board members said they need more time to research and come up with a new system.
Delaying the process may allow more conservative candidates from “anti-critical race theory” to be on the state board of education when the criteria are revisited. Many Republicans in Texas against The cash-race theory advanced to the State Board of Education general election in November after winning the primaries this spring.
The State Board of Education, a 15-member elected board, conducts reviews of Texas Social Studies’ basic knowledge and skills nearly every decade. The curriculum sets standards for how the 5.5 million public school students in the state of all grades learn this subject.
Controversy over this year’s revisions has escalated as the struggle continues over how to teach the history of racism in America and what books children should have access to on college campuses. State lawmakers took their step last year by passing laws to limit how the history of slavery and racism in America is taught in schools. The laws were promoted as a reaction to the supposed proliferation of “critical race theory,” an academic discipline not usually taught in schools that assumes racism is an integral part of all aspects of society. Meanwhile, an organized segment of parents and school boards across the state has attempted to limit diversity plans and discussions in the school about LGBTQ peopleclaiming to indoctrinate their children.
State representative. Steve TothR-The Woodlands, author of one of the “anticritical race theory” statutes and a member of the Freedom Group Caucus, warned that if the state board of education does not change the proposed standards, lawmakers will take action in the next legislative session — or the state may file a lawsuit.
During Tuesday’s meeting, most arguments from conservative fathers and advocates complained that the draft recommendation did not adequately promote American exceptionalism, touched on critical race theory at times, and wrongly included lessons on the Pride movement or the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, better known as GLAAD.
Jolene Potenza, a resident of Southlake — a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb that has become a hotspot for battles over race and education — said she and hundreds of city parents oppose the recommended curriculum because it promotes a “worldview.”
“It reduces the mention of America’s resilience and its trust in God and the celebration of Independence and Freedom Week,” Potenza said.
But Carissa Lopez, senior political director at the Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning watchdog often involved in public education issues, told board members they should “reject the torrent of lies and disinformation” coming at them and do what’s best for them. Texas students.
“Things were completely derailed when extremists made outrageous allegations and then quoted from the Bible,” Lopez said. “Don’t let those who advance a political agenda hijack your eleven o’clock operation.”
Suggested curriculum updates include teachings about the role of the Founding Fathers and documents such as the United States Constitution. They advocate learning the value of patriotism and include learning about Christianity and the role of Christ. But there are also teachings about darker parts of American history such as the centuries of slavery and the imprisonment of Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Orlando Lara, a parent, said he wanted his daughter to learn how to be a global citizen as well as an American citizen.
“Just because she’s a US citizen doesn’t mean she’s more important or valuable than anyone else in the world,” Lara said.
In the lead-up to the meeting, the Texas Freedom Caucus claimed that Teaching Pride—a movement dedicated to raising gay voices, celebrating LGBTQ culture and supporting LGBTQ rights—is a “controversial” issue and thus violates state law.
This law states that if a teacher talks about a controversial issue, he must explore both sides of the topic without giving preference to one.
“The lesson is based on the assumption that the ‘pride’ movement is good for society,” the grouping members wrote.
Toth said discussions about the pride movement should be between the child and his parents.
Mary Castle, senior policy advisor to Texas Valeos, a conservative organization, said the board should remove references to the Pride movement and GLAAD. Castle said that including these references gives teachers the space to promote advocacy and participation in the LGBTQ community.
“We’ve seen evidence of how they use this to get inappropriate books into libraries and appropriate classroom materials,” Castle said.
But House Democrats questioned why the board did not include a social movement that is part of American history.
member Marisa Perez DiazA Democrat questioned, how can a state teach children to love America if their history and experiences are ignored.
“This is a missing piece in this puzzle and part of those stories is that America has not always been exceptional,” said Perez Diaz.
Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs—and engages with—Texas residents about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
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