The Texas State Board of Education will rewrite state standards for history, government and other social studies courses this year. The last time this happened, in 2010, the whole process became — to put it bluntly — a circus. It embarrassed Texas before the eyes of the country and the world. That year, the board made hundreds of changes, often based not on facts but on personal political beliefs. The result is a set of standards that have been panned even by conservative think tanks as a “politicized distortion of history” that downplayed slavery as the cause of the Civil War, dismissed the separation of church and state, portrayed civil rights gains as having negative consequences, and much more. […]
State Board of Education
Texas State Board of Education Puts Politics Ahead of Science Education Again
The State Board of Education’s two-year overhaul of science standards that ended today offered another distressing example of how politics continues to trump teaching about science — and especially climate change — in Texas, Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez said. […]
Politics Trumps Health and Education in Texas Textbook Adoption
The Texas State Board of Education voted today to adopt new health textbooks from just one publisher after critics attacked all of the textbooks for content — even in optional units — that addressed topics related to sex education. Digital textbooks for elementary and middle school offered by three other publishers failed to win approval. […]
National Report Card: Texas Among the States Failing Students on Climate Change
When the State Board of Education wrote new science standards for Texas public schools 11 years ago, Republican board members dismissed teaching students about climate change as “hooey” and a “political agenda.” Now as the country has become even more vulnerable to powerful storms, massive wildfires and devastating cycles of drought and flooding, the TFN […]
Lani Popp’s Victory in GOP Runoff for Texas SBOE Seat Isn’t a Win for Texas Kids
Republicans have nominated yet another creationist to replace retiring State Board of Education member Ken Mercer of San Antonio. The GOP nominee also thinks slavery wasn’t the primary cause of the Civil War and is critical of sex education. Her election in November would simply fuel the state board’s endless textbook wars. Check out the […]
