Texas State Board of Education Approves Controversial Social Studies Curriculum Changes: On Friday, the members of the Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 on social studies curriculum standards for Texas Public Schools. Proposed revisions to textbooks will largely eliminate the civil rights movement from the curriculum.Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous were among those who spoke before the board earlier in the week. Paige, who served as Education Secretary during President George W. Bush’s first term, implored the board members to take more time to consider the new standards, saying they will diminish the importance of civil rights and slavery.
For example, the “slave trade” will be renamed the “Atlantic triangular trade.” References to activists such as Susan B. Anthony and Upton Sinclair will be minimized. In a small concession by conservatives, Thomas Jefferson was restored to a list of political philosophers to be studied.
