Hey y’all!

We’re taking “From the Capitol to the Classroom” a bit more literally this week.

I went down to Austin yesterday, where the State Board of Education kicked off their week-long slate of meetings to go over two major agenda items that have caught the attention of Texans: A required reading list created by the Texas Education Agency and the state’s proposed social studies overhaul.

The meeting started at 8 a.m., and hundreds of Texans testified for over 12 hours. By noon, hundreds of Texans also gathered outside the Capitol to rally and share their concerns about both items.

Below, you’ll hear from speakers at that rally, find a conversation I had prior to the meeting with a Richardson ISD mother who testified against the measures, and learn more about this on-going fight.

The SBOE is expected to vote on the measures later this week, so be sure to follow our socials for any updates.

If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here.

Let’s get into it!

Katie Serrano

DFW Political Correspondent, COURIER Texas

Texans rally for ‘honest history’ in Austin

Photos by Katie Serrano

One of the most important things a teacher can do—according to Ellen Alexandrakis, an educator of over 20 years—is to ensure students have a chance to see themselves in the literature they read and the history books they study.

But thanks to a hyper-partisan panel overseeing a social studies rewrite for the state’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards, that may no longer be possible to provide for Texas’ 5.5 million public school students.

The State Board of Education (SBOE) typically reviews and updates TEKS for different subjects every 10 years to maintain relevancy.

This year, however, rushed changes are facing backlash for leaning too heavily into “Texas-centric” and white Christian teachings while ignoring the majority of world history, along with other religions and cultures.

“ For a child to go to school and be made to feel that they are anything less than an essential member of their community, that’s unethical,” Alexandrakis told COURIER Texas. “It’s wrong, and it’s teaching other children to be suspicious of other religions and other cultures.”

One critic also says the proposed changes are not “developmentally appropriate” for students across grade levels.

The SBOE is slated to cast a preliminary vote on the framework later this week, and will also decide the fate of a standardized reading list that turns passages from the Bible into required reading for students.

Learn more about the framework and what’s at stake

While the SBOE heard hours of testimony against the two agenda items on Tuesday, a coalition of educators, students, and parents gathered on the Capitol Mall to condemn the proposed changes.

Throughout the rally, one message was clear: To let Texas children go to public schools that are free from white Christian nationalist ideals.⁣

Demonstrators said they wanted to ensure all students see themselves in the history books they read, learn the good and bad aspects of history, and have curricula that properly prepare them for the real world.

They also called on the board to slow down this review process and vote to allow parents, teachers, and education experts to provide more input.

Hear what they had to say:

🎒Florida school joins Texas Education Freedom Accounts: The Texas Comptroller’s office, which oversees the state’s $1 billion taxpayer-funded voucher program, has accepted a virtual, Florida-based Christian private school into the program. (Houston Chronicle)

🎓How does the higher ed Office of the Ombudsman work? It’s still unclear: A new state office that investigates whether public universities are violating any laws—including a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on college campuses—has no written policies explaining how those investigations work. (The Texas Tribune)

👗Did you know a Dallas high school is the only school in Texas offering a four-year track in fashion?: Students at Skyline High School are preparing for their annual fashion show, which is part of a four-year program that helps students prepare for a career in the fashion industry. (Dallas Morning News)

Throughout April, we’ll be reading “The Freedom Writers Diary.” Here’s a second batch of questions to guide you as you make your way through the novel:

1. How do the relationships between students from different backgrounds begin to evolve?

2. What does “having a voice” mean to the Freedom Writers?

3. What teaching strategies does Gruwell use that seem most effective?

Send me your responses

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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Katie Serrano. The TexEd Report is happily free to read for everyone. Your financial support means a lot to us. Donate here.

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