FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2023
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas State House is scheduled today to have its hearing for HB 1804, which would reverse bipartisan reforms initially passed in 1995 by Governor George W. Bush. These reforms prevented the State Board of Education from implementing textbook changes based on personal or political reasons. Their repeal would create broad and subjective criteria for textbooks that Board members could use to censor classroom curriculums.
Texas Freedom Network Vice President of Programs Marti Bier (they/them) issued the following response:
“As a parent to children in Texas public schools, I am outraged by the implications of HB 1804, which would dangerously undermine decades-long bipartisan efforts to prevent textbook censorship and the politicization of the State Board of Education. This bill would open the door to attacks on accurate scientific content in our children’s textbooks, allowing creationist pseudoscience like the ‘strengths and weaknesses’ of the theory of evolution to be incorporated into public school curricula.
“We all want our students to have the tools they need to succeed, and that starts with giving public school classrooms and textbooks the ability to teach the truth. This legislation would do the opposite. By simply introducing this bill at our Capitol, legislators are reviving an embarrassing chapter in our state’s history—bringing us back to the worst days of the culture wars. We condemn the actions of radical right-wing members of the State House who are seeking to allow textbook censorship based on the personal and political beliefs of extremist SBOE members.”
