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. […]
Textbook Censorship
The Texas State Board of Education decides what every student in Texas public schools will learn from kindergarten through high school. The board does so by adopting curriculum standards and textbooks for public schools in the state.
For decades, far-right politicians on the State Board of Education and their extremist allies have taken advantage of this flawed system to dismiss the advice of experts and scholars. They have instead worked to inject their personal views into textbooks on everything from evolution and climate change to the history of slavery, civil rights, and separation of church and state.
Resources
- Report Reveals Serious Flaws in Social Studies Textbooks
- The State Board of Education: Dragging Texas Schools into the Culture Wars (2008 report)
- Evolution, Creationism & Public Schools: Surveying Texas Scientists (2008 report)
- Culture Wars and the Classroom (2010 report)
- Senate Bill 6: Changes in the Textbook Adoption Process (2011 report)
- Texas Science Curriculum Standards: Challenges (2012 report)
- Science Textbook Review (2013 report)
- Social Studies Textbook Review (2014 report)
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 […]
TFN President: SBOE Vote to Create State Elective Course in Mexican American Studies an Important Step Forward for Texas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 11, 2018 AUSTIN – The State Board of Education’s preliminary vote today to move forward on approving curriculum standards for a state elective course in Mexican American studies is an important step forward for Texas public school students, Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said. […]
Report: It’s Time to Take Politics Out of Texas Classrooms
Current social studies curriculum standards in Texas promote the right-wing agenda of politicians who sat on the State Board of Education in 2010. With the state board this year set to revise those standards, a new report from the TFN Education Fund documents the problems and makes recommendations for how to get politics out of public school classrooms. Check […]
TFN Statement on SBOE Rejection of Mexican American Studies Textbook
The State Board of Education has failed once again to provide Texas public schools with the resources they need to create courses in Mexican American studies. We just sent out the following press release: […]
