Texas students may soon attend social studies and reading classes that minimize racial, geographic and cultural diversity while emphasizing the Bible.
The majority-Republican State Board of Education granted preliminary approval Tuesday afternoon to a reading list for all public schools that includes teaching Christian stories. The board members then began debating a rewrite of Texas’ social studies lessons, with an initial vote expected on those proposed changes upon conclusion.
Final votes on the two proposals are expected Friday.
On Monday, board members heard from teachers, students and community members in support of and concerned about the suggested lessons.
Nearly 500 people signed up to testify in a hearing that at several points turned contentious, with heated exchanges between speakers and the removal of at least one person deemed out of order by the board chair.
The statewide reading list would require, among other literary works, that schools teach Bible material to children as young as 6 years old up to young adults preparing to receive their diplomas. That includes Christian stories about Adam and Eve, The Eight Beatitudes and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
The social studies proposal, meanwhile, represents a dramatic transformation in how Texas schools have long administered lessons on history, geography, economics and government. It eliminates the current sixth-grade world cultures course, deemphasizes world history outside of European tradition and dedicates more focus to Texas and the United States.
If approved by the education board Friday, both changes would take effect during the 2030-31 school year.
Conservative Republican leaders and activists champion the new lessons, which they view as “the final battle” in a push to rid Texas schools of instruction they say paints America in a negative light and trains students to hate the country.
Sociology classes, for example, currently require students to understand “the impact of race and ethnicity on society” and “analyze the varying treatment patterns of minority groups.” But that standard does not exist in the newly proposed social studies plan.
Republican leaders across the state often depict Islam as a violent religion they view as incompatible with their conservative Christian American values. During the board’s April meetings, the board eliminated a social studies standard that would have required students to learn about Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy.
“Let me be very clear: Islam is not a religion,” Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, testified before the education board Monday. “It is a totalitarian theocracy, not unlike totalitarian systems of communism, Nazism and globalism.”
Asked if he had ever visited a Muslim-majority country, Hall responded no.
Elizabeth Jensen, who identified herself as a Texas school board trustee but did not specify the district, told the education panel that she believes “slavery was and still is fundamental to Sharia,” referring to the set of moral codes and principles that Muslims follow. Sharia does not have a uniform meaning, as Muslims interpret and act upon it differently.
Muslims have spent months denouncing such Islamophobia at State Board of Education meetings, calling it misinformation and harmful to the hundreds of thousands of Texans who practice the faith.
Meanwhile, students, educators and progressive activists spoke out in opposition to the lack of racial, ethnic and gender inclusion in the debated books and lessons, as well as the state’s Christian focus over other religions.
“These proposed standards actually defy the Constitution and highlight only one group of Americans as the founders who built this country to the exclusion of others — both in the past and in the present,” Ruth Nasrullah, a Muslim speaker, told the board members.
English teachers stressed during the meeting that many of the books on the proposed reading list do not align with what Texas requires them to teach, despite taking up most of roughly 36 weeks of instructional time in an academic year.
On the other hand, educators criticize how the social studies proposal prioritizes memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy. Historians call attention to factual errors, saying the new standards would set children up for failure post-graduation.
One lesson, for example, describes the forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese families during World War II as one of the “contributions” to America’s military effort. Another proposal notes that high school students should know the significance of leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, specifying Thurgood Marshall, Barbara Jordan and Hector P. Garcia — but not Martin Luther King Jr.
A panel of nine advisers guided the social studies overhaul, almost all of whom hold no Texas K-12 classroom experience and several of whom have ties to conservative activism.
Before initial approval of the reading list, the elected state board members — led by Republican Tom Maynard — debated whether they should prohibit teachers from assigning non-state-mandated books without the educators first posting them online for parental review. However, some expressed concerns about micromanaging teachers.
They also considered whether to grant charter schools flexibility in which grades they introduce the required readings, an attempt to appease charter leaders who said they wanted to assign more rigorous books to children in lower grades. But some members said doing so might create the opposite effect, allowing lower-performing campuses to lessen rigor for students in higher grades.
Neither of those passed, but board members have another opportunity to resurface suggestions before the final vote Friday.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.