Democrats on the Texas State Board of Education were blocked from adding climate change and painting Texas Rangers as oppressors in social studies lessons during a Sept. 26 meeting.
The special meeting held in Austin was billed as a public hearing on proposed social studies learning standards to meet SB3 requirements. The bill, which became law in 2021, prohibits teaching Critical Race Theory, a Marxist-based ideology, that labels people as oppressors or victims depending on their skin color or sexual identity.
Monday’s public hearing came on the heels of a Sept. 23 letter from the Texas Anti-definition League and Texas Freedom Network, organizations aligned with the ideology of the progressive left, chastising the board for delaying a “progressive” overhaul of the the state’s social studies standards.
Other groups backing the letter included: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children’s Defense Fund, Equality Texas, Every Texas, Intercultural Development Research Association, and the Texas state Teachers Association.
“Flooded with misinformation, overwhelmed by public testimony from a small, extremist group of individuals who opposed the inclusive and honest recommendations, this board bowed to pressure from a minority and ultimately failed to do its job, to the detriment of Texans across the state,” the letter stated, clearly frustrated by the pushback from parents.
Democrat Georgina Perez used the special meeting to suggest amendments to current learning standards. She sought to add Democrat Jose Tomas Canels into 7th grade Texas history requirements, saying it would do no harm.
Canels was a prominent Democrat and lawyer in the early 1900s who accused the Texas Rangers of racial violence against Mexican-Americans in the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Perez’s suggestion appeared to revive an effort to portray the Texas Rangers as “oppressors,” as had been written into the proposed social studies standards before the board voted to halt the revision process.
Perez also proposed adding climate change as a subject within world geography. Democratic board member Aicha Davis offered an amendment for first graders to learn about Deloris Huerta, co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association.
The board voted along party lines to reject the amendments. However, they passed the first reading of additions to the social studies to comply with SB 3.
Julie Pickren, a conservative candidate for SBOE, told The Epoch Times the special meeting announcement last Thursday gave parents little time to react. She came to the meeting, fearing it might rekindle the social studies debate.
“Why did Chairman Ellis call a special meeting?” she asked, adding that the board was granted an extension on complying with SB3 so she didn’t see the need.
Speakers on Monday included parents and groups from both sides of the political aisle.
Evelyn Brooks favored using the words parents and police officers in social studies standards when describing authority figures.
Emerald Belmarez spoke at the hearing on behalf of the Texas Freedom Network, which co-wrote the letter claiming the board gave in to the “radical right.” She criticized the board for insensitivity to social justice issues, pointing out that the Monday meeting occurred on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The board voted in August to shelve plans to revise standards until 2025. Parents showed up in force after they got wind that the overhaul included elements of globalism, LGBT activism, and Critical Race Theory.
Pickren noted that 7,000 concerned parents emailed board members, and 4,000 signed a petition urging them to leave the standards alone, leading to the halt of additions from the progressive left.
