Donna Bahorich, chair of the State Board of Education, is missing a key problem in defending how new history textbooks in Texas public schools cover the experience of African Americans after the Civil War. By focusing just on the textbooks, she ignores how politicized curriculum standards adopted by the state board distort the teaching of history in Texas public schools. […]
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)
Texas Sen. Bob Hall’s Unhinged, Anti-Common Core Rant: Sex, Race, and the Bible
TFN neither supports nor opposes Common Core, standards that states across the country came together to develop and implement in their public schools. But we’re fascinated by the almost unhinged rants from right-wing activists and politicians who hate those standards for English/language arts and mathematics. Take, for example, what East Texas state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, says about Common Core. […]
The SBOE Is Taking Up Science Again This Year
Buckle up, science-lovers and other rational Texans. Science is coming back to the Texas State Board of Education this year. The SBOE has announced plans to “streamline” the state’s controversial science standards. And that means evolution will be back in the crosshairs. We’ll have much more information about this process soon, but for now, two […]
Join the #StandUp4Science Rapid Response Team
In 2016-17, the Texas State Board of Education is streamlining the state’s controversial science curriculum standards. And that means evolution is back in the crosshairs. TFN is working to ensure that the revised standards don’t promote junk science. You can help by joining the #StandUp4Science Rapid Response Team: First name Last name Email Zip code […]
Ted Cruz’s Father Ties Public Education to Communism
Rafael Cruz, the fringe religious-righter and father of Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, is claiming (inaccurately, of course) that our nation’s public education system was founded by “a member of the American Communist Party.” Here’s an excerpt from a report by our friends at Right Wing Watch: The elder Cruz alleged in an interview on the Sirius XM program […]
