Texas education board approves controversial new social studies curriculum for public high schools
It'll change what students learn in government and history classes
HOUSTON -- The Texas State Board of Education just approved a new social studies curriculum for public high school students.
It'll change what students learn in government and history classes, and the changes are already controversial, especially when it comes to lessons on Islam and Christianity.
Hundreds of Texans have testified during meetings that have lasted for several hours.
The most controversial topic, by far, involved Islam, a religion to which top state leaders and candidates have been vocal about their opposition.
"Texas is a majority Christian state, and Christians do not recognize Mohammed as a prophet," Board member Brandon Hall said.
After some debate, Texas curriculum will now use the word "brutal" to describe early Islamic campaigns against Jewish and Christian groups.
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"I think we can all agree military battles and wars are all brutal, but we have not described any others that way," Board member Will Hickman said.
"We're whitewashing and watering down a part of history that I think is very consequential to understanding world events throughout history and understanding the context of what's considered one of the major religions of today. And, so I think that would be just a grave mistake to remove this word," Hall said.
The Board also approved teaching students that the Sept. 11 attacks were motivated by "Radical Islam" rather than specific terrorist organizations.
"When you use such broad terms, people don't see 'radical.' What they're going to see is 'Islam,' and 'Islam' is the reason these things are happening, which is not true. When we talk about history, we need to tell the full breadth of it; we need to be specific," said Sameeha Rizvi, the Government Affairs and Legislative manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Gov. Greg Abbott has designated CAIR as a terrorist group.
CAIR maintains it is a civil rights group, and the designation is currently being fought in court.
"It's very important that what we teach in our classrooms is representative of the people of Texas, which is a very diverse body," Rizvi said.
The Board disregarded requests from dozens of speakers who testified that schools should teach positive contributions by Muslim leaders.
In June, the Board approved changes to the state's K-8 curriculum that included a mandatory reading list with Bible stories.
Texas schools will begin phasing in the changes during the 2030-31 school year.
Local school districts and administrators are ultimately in charge of the specifics of what their students learn, but they are required to follow these state curriculum guidelines.
