Today is National Read Across America Day, but it’s difficult to celebrate the joy of reading as we’re actively seeing books pulled from public schools and libraries in Texas and across the country. We’ve constructed a timeline of key events that have sought to diminish free education and diversity in thought. Together, we can stop this timeline before it grows. #TeachtheTruth […]
Textbook Censorship
Teach the Truth: A Conversation with Jerry Craft
Numerous Black authors have watched as right-wing leaders ban their books from libraries and classrooms across the country, and in Texas, a state rep has launched an investigation targeting hundreds of titles. One book of the books on the list is Class Act by Jerry Craft. Craft sat down with us to discuss book banning, the impact of classroom censorship on his work, public school students, and the community as a whole. […]
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. […]
Texas SBOE Fails Students on LGBTQ-Inclusion, Climate Change
The State Board of Education’s refusal even to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ people in new health curriculum standards is a tragic failure to help ensure that Texas public schools are safe and inclusive for all students, Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez said today. […]
