Texas is on the verge of a major education victory. The State Board of Education (SBOE) is expected to vote tomorrow on adopting improved Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards for social studies and the state’s first required literary works list.
These proposals address two subjects that Texas students have largely struggled with in recent years. According to Texas Education Agency data, roughly half of students are not able to read on grade-level and only about one-third meet expectations in social studies.
Reading is foundational. If students cannot comprehend what they are reading, how are they going to think critically about it? The new literature list focuses on age-appropriate books that provide valuable moral lessons, contextual knowledge, and perspectives on our nation’s history. This would be a welcome change for some parents whose kids have brought home wildly inappropriate books from their school library.
On the social studies side, the current TEKS present Texan, American, and World history as isolated subjects. In some instances, they promote woke social justice themes and exclude key details that may not be considered “politically correct.” The new curriculum would teach students the facts about historical events, in order, free of political bias.
Of course, this effort to strengthen students’ literacy and knowledge of history has its detractors. Marxist groups showed up to testify at this week’s meetings, apparently upset that students would learn truths about America’s founding that don’t fit their radical narrative.
They don’t want students to understand the Judeo-Christian values that influenced the Mayflower Compact and our system of government.
They don’t want students to know that the Ten Commandments from Exodus and Deuteronomy were the foundation for much of common law.
They don’t want students to know that Christian beliefs shaped equality, rights and human dignity in America.
Fortunately, the majority of SBOE members seem to agree that our history is worth preserving for future generations of Texans. The new standards cleared an initial vote on Tuesday and will hopefully be finalized before this weekend.
Soon, Texas’ nearly 5.5 million students will be better equipped to master reading and to receive a straightforward history education.
This commentary is published on Thursdays as part of TPPF’s subscriber-only newsletter, The Post. If you would like to subscribe to The Post, click here.