Texas education board moves to delay updates to social studies curriculum after conservative pushback
Opponents of the recommended changes, including Republican legislators, complained that they downplayed Texan and American exceptionalism and didn't present opposing views on the gay rights movement.
Author of โcritical race theoryโ ban says Texas schools can still teach about racism
State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, said his intention was never to gloss over American history or have negative effects on teachers and administrators. His comments to the State Board of Education come as members consider new social studies curriculum.
Texas GOP platform calls for ban on teaching โsexual matters,โ while requiring students to learn about โdignity of the preborn humanโ
The party planks specify what the Texas GOP believes students should and should not be taught in the classroom about gender and sex, signaling further shifts to the right. Critics say such policies would be harmful and discriminatory.
Texas State Board of Education rejects conservative-backed Heritage Classical Academy charter school for third time
Two Republicans joined Democrats to veto the charter school application, including a Republican board member who lost reelection to a candidate endorsed by a PAC with financial ties to Heritageโs board chair.
Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies to develop standards to block books with "overtly sexual" content in schools
Abbott targeted two books that have been removed by schools recently that center on LGBTQ characters. One of the books includes a graphic illustration and the other includes depictions of sex.
Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on Texasโ new political maps, which protect GOP majorities while diluting voices of voters of color
Texas lawmakers drew new maps for the state House and Senate, congressional delegation and State Board of Education. Hereโs what Texans should know about the 2021 redistricting outcomes.
Texas education board approves new sex ed policy that does not cover LGBTQ students or consent
The State Board of Education took a preliminary vote on Wednesday to approve a new sex education policy for seventh and eighth grade students in Texas. Over the last several months, panels of educators and medical professionals formulated recommendations to overhaul the health and sex education policies. This marks the board's first thorough revision to its sex education policy since 1997, and will affect millions of students in the state. Experts including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association oppose abstinence-only education and champion comprehensive sex education. This type of sex education prioritizes accurate and exhaustive information about contraception, human sexuality and sexually transmitted infections.
Texans urge state education board to expand sexual education standards and include LGBTQ information
At the board's first public hearing on the proposals, many current and former Texas public school students recalled their own experiences with sexual education teachers who emphasized shame instead of accuracy. Neither the draft revisions nor current health education standards, the minimum statewide requirement for what students learn, include sexual orientation or gender identity. Texas does not mandate that school districts teach sexual education, and high school students do not have to take health education to meet state graduation requirements. Advocates of abstinence-plus education told board members that teaching students comprehensive sex education would reduce teen pregnancies, infections and sexual violence among students. And without any information on LGBTQ sexual health, sexual orientation or gender identity, LGBTQ foster children also will lack that information, she said.
โNames are importantโ: Texas activists protest the renaming of โMexican-American Studiesโ course to โEthnic Studiesโ
Republican State Board of Education member David Bradley proposed the new course title in April, saying he found "hyphenated Americanism to be divisive.โ On Tuesday, another board member, Democrat Ruben Cortez, called Bradley โthe most mean-spiritedโ person on the board.
Texas education board approves course formerly known as Mexican-American studies
After years of debate, the State Board of Education voted preliminarily to create curriculum standards for a Mexican-American studies class. But thanks to the objections of one member, it'll now be called โEthnic Studies: An Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent.โ