Four Texans Fighting for Truth & Inclusion in Education
The year 2026 will go down in infamy at the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). It is the year that Texas may have become the first state in the nation to require a set list of readings – including Bible stories – in every grade of public school. And if that weren’t extreme enough, the SBOE passed changes to the social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) widely criticized as Islamophobic and otherwise deeply flawed. Despite these significant and consequential setbacks, our advocacy still made an impact at the SBOE.
From the political appointment of dubious content advisors to the approval of a framework that over-emphasized Texas and the United States and de-emphasized world history and cultures, to the final votes, TFN and our partners were there, fighting for inclusive, accurate social studies standards. We informed and mobilized supporters, hosted press conferences, held trainings, and showed up to testify, even when that meant waiting until almost midnight.
TFN is profiling four outstanding Texans who have spoken out for public education this year. We talked to them about their experiences advocating for accurate, honest, and inclusive education standards. We wanted to find out what motivates them to put in the time and effort to do this work, why it’s important to them, and why they think it should matter to everyone else. Most of all, we wanted to highlight their hard work and dedication-because their advocacy mattered!
Common Threads
These education heroes from North and Central Texas range from high school students to professionals with decades of experience. Though their journeys to advocacy are unique, it was striking to see the common threads in their stories.
Each of them expressed a strong sense of social justice and equality that stemmed from their religious or ethnic background. All of them mentioned concern for students’ critical thinking skills as reasons they wanted to do this work. And each of them took their first step into advocacy because someone asked them to. We hope their stories inspire you as much as they’ve inspired us.
The Fight Continues
While extreme members of the Texas State Board of Education advanced their far-right agenda in our schools with mandated Bible stories and biased history lessons, TFN and our allies succeeded in bringing national and international attention to their schemes and continued to grow our movement.
Make no mistake: we’re fighting an uphill battle in Texas. But we’ve never been more resolved or more prepared for the fight. Advocates like Abdurhaman, Iniya, Kiyomi, and Sue will continue to inspire us to work toward a state where all children, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or gender identity, can see themselves in the story of Texas and have access to the high-quality education they deserve.
Our SBOE Advocacy Impact Series features four Texans who’ve advocated for inclusive, accurate, unbiased social studies standards. Read all of their profiles below!
