The 86th session of the Texas Legislature is history. Lawmakers left town on Monday following a session that, generally speaking, had fewer of the culture war fights we’ve come to expect. You can attribute that to elections, and it seems the results of last November have elected officials worried about their fates at the ballot […]
Education
Texas has an increasingly diverse public education system with a public school enrollment of more than 5 million. Unfortunately, that public education system is also the target of right-wing extremists seeking to privatize our neighborhood public schools and push a culture-war agenda in the classroom.
To that end, Texas Freedom Network tirelessly fights for Texas public school students at the Capitol — opposing private school voucher legislation, sticking up for students’ freedoms, advocating for truthful, censorship-free lessons and textbooks, and more. We’ve also conducted groundbreaking research into what is taught in classrooms on subjects like sex education and religion.
Resources
- Teach the Truth: Texans United Against Censorship in Education
- Can This Class Be Saved? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Public School Bible Curriculum (2014 report)
- Reading, Writing & Religion II (2013 report)
- Sex Education in Public Schools: Progress in the Lone Star State (2011 report)
- Just Say Don’t Know: Sex Education in Texas Public Schools (2009 report)
- The State Board of Education: Dragging Texas Schools into the Culture Wars (2008 report)
- Reading Writing & Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools (2006 report)
- Broken Promises II (2001 report)
- Broken Promises: Charter Schools in Texas (2000 report)
Tell the Texas SBOE: #TeachTheTruth and Stop Rewriting History
Last month the State Board of Education once again turned the revision of social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools into a political circus. Just as they did in 2010, board members ripped apart draft standards proposed by teachers and scholars. In vote after vote, they substituted their political beliefs for historical facts. Join […]
Texas SBOE Puts Politics Ahead of Truth in Curriculum Standards
The State Board of Education had the chance this week to #TeachTheTruth in revised social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools. But from Moses to the Civil War, board members once again decided to substitute their personal beliefs for facts and accurate history. We just sent out the following press release. […]
Warning Signs in the Texas Curriculum Standards Revision
Two big problems got the most attention at last week’s State Board of Education discussion of proposed revisions to social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools: the whitewashing of slavery’s role in causing the Civil War and exaggerations of the influence of religion on the American founding. Unfortunately, we saw warning signs that some state board members still aren’t ready to #TeachTheTruth. […]
Public Hearing: Tell the Texas SBOE to #TeachTheTruth
The State Board of Education’s revision of its politically biased curriculum standards for social studies classes in Texas public schools is moving into a new and important phase. On Tuesday (June 12) the board will hold a public hearing on proposed revisions drafted over the past several months by teams of scholars and educators. Now the focus […]
