austin texas education – The state school board held a marathon meeting in Austin on Tuesday.

The board is in the process of updating social studies standards that determine what and how history is taught in Texas.

The draft was produced by a workgroup made up of educators.

Each group has spent countless hours over the past year coming up with recommended changes to the state curriculum.

The draft expands the history class to include more comprehensively the diverse communities that have shaped Texas and the nation.

It’s been over a decade since the standard was significantly updated.

Board members originally planned to hold a final vote on the standards in November. This will give the publisher enough time to update his textbooks for the 2025-26 academic year.

Author’s great-grandson confronts Carol ISD over book under review

But with all the backlash, that timeline is at a loss.

Some community members are against the proposed changes.

Southlake residents have submitted a petition to the board, which they said was signed by hundreds of North Texans who argued that curriculum changes would weaken “American exceptionalism while expanding topics relevant to the LGBTQ community.” submitted.

“We’re not scared. We don’t respond just because it hurts someone’s feelings. And we’re not going to embrace this,” said the Southlake resident.

The point of contention was the discussion of LGBTQ topics in 8th grade.

“Is there a way to mention this?

“I don’t think the subject is at all appropriate for this topic,” said Mary Castle of Texas Values. “So I don’t think I should bring it up.”

There was also disagreement over the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

“That’s the definition of internment,” said committee member Matt Robinson. “And I think it perfectly characterizes what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II.”

Carol ISD rejects the “In God We Trust” sign written in Arabic rainbow font.

Working group members also opposed what they saw as political motion, which downplayed their work and could further slow the process.

“There is a faction in this room that seeks to label any effort to culturally adapt a responsive curriculum as an example of critical race theory. This is falsely and misleading,” said one. said the member.

Tuesday’s discussion didn’t center around the high school curriculum.

If the board reworked the entire framework, it would slow down the process. Some parents have requested that the board push be suspended until next year to allow for more feedback and analysis.