Welcome back to another edition of The TexEd Report! I missed y’all last week, we’ve got a lot to catch up on. 

The State Board of Education is back in Austin, and Texas’ divisive overhaul of high school social studies teaching standards is finally set to conclude this week. You’ll find more on that below. 

We’ll also take a look at my conversation with a political expert on the impact Texas’ new parental rights amendment has had on public schools and Dan Patrick’s “we’re coming for the books” threat that was heard across Texas.

Finally, ICYMI: Fort Worth ISD added cameras to its classrooms, and faculty and staff are prohibited from commenting on the decision. Our DFW Intern, Noemi Canstanon, breaks it down here.

If you missed the last edition, read it here.

Let’s get into it!

The Republican-dominated State Board of Education is once again meeting this week to hear public testimony and vote on new controversial teaching standards for high school social studies courses.

In June, the board passed K–8 social studies standards, but delayed a vote on high school standards until this week. The new teaching standards across grades K-12, which have been slammed by critics for excluding various world religions while relying heavily on white Christian teachings, will take effect beginning in 2030.

The board heard hours of public testimony on Monday, where several members of the public condemned the rewritten standards for their Islamophobia. One standard requires students to explain “early Islam in terms of the Prophet Mohammed’s brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves.” 

This contrasts greatly with how the board wants Texas high school students to learn about Christianity. Students would have to be able to describe the “life and teachings of Jesus” and describe Christianity’s influence on Western society, from the Roman Empire to medieval society and its “contributions” to America.

Hear a 15-year-old Muslim student’s testimony here.

The board is still deliberating the standards and passing amendments, and is expected to cast a final vote by the end of the week. 

In November 2025, Texas voters approved a “Parental Rights Amendment” to the state Constitution. The proposition was proposed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022, and claims to provide parents with the right “to exercise care, custody, and control” of their child, including the “right to make decisions concerning their child’s upbringing.” 

Critics called the proposition unnecessary, vague, and dangerous, noting parents’ rights are already protected in Texas and warning it would open the door for another parent’s personal beliefs to strip rights from other people’s children and their families. Progress Texas warned it would be used to “weaponize the Constitution to propagate right-wing culture wars involving LGBTQ+ families, book bans, and what’s taught in public schools.” Parents of transgender children worried it would result in government overreach. 

After nearly a year since its passage, political experts said those warnings have become a reality.

Before we dive into September’s banned book, I wanted to take a look back at some news I wasn’t able to share with you last week. 

You may have seen Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s viral press conference on Aug. 19 where he warned Texas public schools that he’s “coming for the books.” 

Despite affordability, immigration, and healthcare being the top issues on Texans’ minds heading into the midterm election, Patrick announced a new initiative to fight “dirty” books in Texas public schools and threatened to knock a public school district’s accountability rating down one letter grade if it doesn’t remove books he deems “vulgar” from library shelves.

He claims there are over 2,000 inappropriate titles currently on Texas public school library shelves, and focused a handful during his presser.

I delved into seven titles he has mentioned, which are either banned in several Texas school districts or restricted to the adult section in school libraries, and analyzed them for myself.