TEXAS FREEDOM NETWORK STATEMENT ON SBOE’S ACTION ON ETHNIC STUDIES COURSES FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
TFN President: Today’s Vote Is a Step Toward Ensuring That More Students Get a Fuller Understanding of Our Nation’s History and Diverse Cultures
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2014
The Texas State Board of Education today voted 12-2 to call for publishers to submit instructional materials next year for locally developed elective courses in Mexican-American, African-American, Asian-American and Native American studies. Districts choosing to offer such courses could do so using the state’s Special Topics in Social Studies curriculum standards. The state board took this action in place of adding an elective course on Mexican-American Studies to the official state curriculum. TFN President Kathy Miller had this to say about today’s vote:
“While we would have preferred a state elective course that recognized the substantial way in which Mexican-Americans, African-American, women and others have shaped Texas and our nation, today’s vote represents an important step toward ensuring that more students get a fuller understanding of our history and the diverse cultures that have shaped it. Just four years ago this board was divided over how or even whether students should learn about American heroes like Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall and Dolores Huerta. So we’re encouraged by this progress, especially as we look ahead to the state board’s adoption of social studies textbooks for our public schools later this year.”
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The Texas Freedom Network is a nonpartisan public education watchdog made up of religious and community leaders who support religious freedom and individual liberties.
