Victory! Texas State Board of Education Makes Important Decisions on K-12 Social Studies Standards, Preserving American Civics and Our Christian Founding

Texas Values Government Relations director Mary Elizabeth Castle testified thanking the board for making improvements since the February meeting. She highlighted that the current draft being presented at the meeting had deleted the standard that suggested Islam had influence on the construction of the Alamo and for adding back that Moses was a lawgiver and author of the 10 Commandments. However, there were other improvements that needed to be made, such as: describing Christianity’s influence on the Pilgrims and the morality of the West, including Amerigo Vespucci’s discovery that the new lands he discovered were America, and that it is inaccurate and politically motivated to say Islam contributed to Algebra and Astrology. While these were the specific points that were mentioned in testimony, Texas Values provided two handouts that you can find here.

The Muslim organization CAIR (whom Governor Abbott has determined a terrorist organization) testified again at the meeting, as they have been since last year. Again, they argued for inaccurate facts suggesting that their values are similar to Christianity by claiming that all Abrahamic faiths share the same values. One student claimed that Moses should be removed from the TEKS because there are only two laws that come from the 10 commandments and archeologists cannot confirm Moses existed. A threat was even mouthed to Member Brandon Hall.

Texas Freedom Network, another left-leaning group, also testified. Despite usually being in opposition to Christianity and religious freedom, they claimed that the process was unfair because their team could not finish reading the standards due to Easter and Passover. (The TEKS were posted several days before Easter. Texas Values reviewed them without having to work on Good Friday or Easter).

After the SBOE heard public testimony until 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Chairman Aaron Kinsey directed the SBOE to begin making amendments starting with amendments drafted by the content advisors. A few Democrat members debated on this point and said that they did not have time to locate the recommendations. After, TEA staff printed out the recommendations and the members debated, the SBOE voted at 1:30 a.m. the next morning to accept the content advisors’ amendments. According a brief analysis from Texas Values, the content advisors’ recommendations appeared to be on the right track, but there were many edits that still needed to be made.

The Amendments Process— Heated and Lengthy Debate on the TEKS Yields Solid Results

After the long night, the SBOE revisited the amendment process for Social Studies TEKS at 11a.m on Wednesday. A few of Texas Values recommendations were offered and received a positive vote. Those recommendations were:

• Adding back and imbedding the phrase “practice their faith in God” when discussing why the Pilgrims came to America
• Adding back fact that Amerigo Vespucci realized that the lands Columbus discovered were not Asia. (it is important for students to understand that Amerigo Vespucci, the namesake for our country, recognized he was exploring new land.)

Other recommendations offered and voted on that encourage the message of teaching civic virtue and acknowledging Christianity’s influence included:

• Member Pam Little offering amendment that Father Damien came to teach Christianity to the America Indians
• Member Pam Little offering amendment that Kindergartners recognize that voting is a right and responsibility and a privilege of American Citizenship 
• An amendment to teach students how to pledge to the American flag
• An amendment acknowledging that Dr. Martin Luther King was a Baptist pastor (the content advisor’s struck information that he was a pastor/Christian)
• Member Tom Maynard offering amendment that talks about George Washington relinquishing his power and returning to his farm, which is why he was nicknamed Cincinnatus. This would teach students that George Washington saw public office as a service
• Member Kevin Ellis offering amendment that Middle School students read the Federalist Papers
• Member Brandon Hall offering amendment that First Graders also learn that freedom to worship and faith in God were reasons for coming to America

While there were many successful amendments, there was much heated debate throughout the amendment process. Some Democrat members did not agree that students should learn to place their hand over their heart when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and they attempted to shame Republican members by saying it would violate religious freedom. Member Julie Pickren swiftly responded that state law already covers any religious exemption.  There was also debate over whether Texas should be called “Texas”, “Tejas”, or “New Spain” whenever Navarro welcomed settlers into our state. When Member Ellis recommended that students recite from memory the first verse of the Start Spangled Banner, a Democrat member, Bell Metereau pushed back saying the song is unnatural to a First grader. But an even larger debate ensued on whether Kindergarteners should learn about being American citizens. Many Democrat members found it offensive that students would learn to see themselves as American citizens and claimed that some Kindergartners are immigrants, refugees, or part of the CPS system. Member Maynard explained to the group that whenever he hosted foreign exchange students, those students found interest in learning what it means to be an American citizen. Thankfully, the amendment to teach Kindergarteners on American citizenship passed 6-4.

At the meeting of the State Board of Education on Friday, the SBOE took a vote on First Reading of the Social Studies standards. This means all of the good amendments mentioned above were accepted. Below are the votes on the Social Studies TEKS:

• Kindergarten – 2^nd grade passed 9-5
• Grades 3-5 passed 10-5
• Middle School passed 10-2
• High school course including (World History, World Geography, and Economics) passed 9-5  

These amendments passed on a vote called “First Reading”. Next these changes will be available to the public and the public will have the opportunity to comment on the Social Studies standards. The final vote will be at the SBOE meeting during the week of June 22-26.

The Literature List- Required Reading Raises Debate on Bible Passages

Another popular subject at the SBOE meeting last week was a required reading list that contains scriptures from the Bible. The required reading list is a result of House Bill 1605 that tasks the SBOE with voting on a list of literary works that Texas students must read in their English Language Arts courses.

Many media sources and Leftist groups criticized the list for requiring students to read scriptures from the Bible. One Left-leaning member Rebecca Bell- Metereau asked Moms for Liberty Director Christie Slape what is the lesson students would learn from the story of Jonah and the whale. Christie Slape responded that it is a story that teaches kids to not evade responsibility and that when they are told to do something by a higher authority like God, then the should obey. Member Bell-Metereau replied with “well, whales eat plankton and not people” and students should instead read a story about whales going extinct.

While Member Will Hickman’s edited and reduced reading list was on the table, the SBOE instead presented Member Kevin Ellis reading list for a vote. To clarify, while shortened, Will Hickman’s list did not attack the Biblical content. Overall, members and policy activists on both sides were concerned about the rigor of the list due to the list not requiring students to read Shakespeare and other advanced books until later in their education. Thus, at the Friday meeting Member Tom Maynard offered an amendment that would allow Charter Schools, who are often more advanced, to teach some of the literary works in earlier grades. With Tom Maynard’s amendment, the reading list passed 9-5.

See link to list our team received directly from Member Kevin Ellis here.

The required reading list with Bible references is slightly different than the Bluebonnet curriculum that was adopted recently. Bluebonnet was optional and tied specifically to stories, history and books that referenced the Bible. Texas Values will continue to assess the legal support for this list and we are willing to provide analysis to defend the list if challenged.

Parental Rights Training for School Board Members Passes

An item that had been postponed from the February meeting was a vote on the Parental Rights training for school board members. Texas Values has testified and provided feedback on this issue since last year. The training for school board members and the handbook for parents are a product of a bill by Senator Angela Paxton that was passed in the 2025 Legislative Session (Senate Bill 204). Even though the Social Studies vote lasted until 2p.m on Friday, the SBOE engaged in a 3-hour hearty discussion over the process of adopting the school board training. Ultimately, Member Will Hickman offered the Texas Education Agency’s version of the Parental Rights training and this version passed. Texas Values is pleased with this version by the TEA as it has the Texas Women’s Privacy Act included in the training.

Conclusion

Last week, the SBOE made great progress in ensuring Texas students receive a good education on the topic of Social Studies. It is believed that the five Democrat members on the SBOE may pursue legal action to stop this progress due to their belief that a content advisor was paid by Texas Public Policy Foundation to “write” the TEKS. However, it is inaccurate to say that one content advisor wrote the TEKS as the SBOE members made edits on the Social Studies TEKS themselves until 3:15 a.m. on Friday.

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