Public Education Crisis. Help Needed!
Hey, Denton friends!
As you may know, the State Board of Education (SBOE) has been in the process of creating new Social Studies standards for grades K-12. If the standards are approved during the next SBOE meeting from June 22 - 26, then the changes are anticipated to go in effect in the 2030-31 school year.
Teachers, curriculum experts, and professional historians testified at SBOE meetings in January and April about their concerns with the proposed Social Studies curriculum and they need our help! Their concerns covered the issues below:
- Unprecedented changes to the established content development process which gave content advisors an expanded, formal role.
- Two of the nine content advisors, Donald Frazier and David Barton, have strong connections to Christian nationalism and ethics violations.
- Donald Frazier's group Texas Center received an undisclosed $70,000 grant from the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). The TPPF includes billionaire Tim Dunn among its board of directors.
- David Barton's book, The Jefferson Lies, was pulled from publication due to numerous errors. Barton is also well known for his anti-LGBTQ stance.
- The revised standards would feature skewed and inaccurate content that minimizes the roles of racial minorities, women, and non-Christian religions.
- Expert testimony against content inaccuracies and age appropriateness was largely ignored.
(Unfortunately, these bulleted items only dip into the concerns. I highly recommend reading The Social Studies Advocate for additional detail about these issues. It's not my substack, but it has very helpful information to understand the problems before us.)
So, how can we help? By expressing concern to our SBOE members now. Let's make it to where they postpone the June meeting because so many of their constituents expressed outrage!
(1) Here is the directory that leads to the individual email address of each SBOE member. An example email below. Choose the issue that speaks to you and let it flow naturally!
>Dear State Board of Education Member X,
As a lifelong Texan, I am deeply concerned about the process that has led to the proposed social studies curriculum changes. It appears that unqualified content advisors have a larger influence than educators, curriculum experts, and professional historians.
My brother is a teacher at Y and my mom is a retired teacher from Z. They are lifelong educators who have had a tremendous impact on me and the communities they have served.
Yet their voices pale in comparison to those of appointed content advisors. Donald Frazier's group received an undisclosed $70,000 from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. David Barton's book, The Jefferson Lies, was pulled by the publisher for containing numerous errors and discrepancies. Does this mean that Texan voices are being sold? That incompetence is being prioritized over experts in education?
The vote on the proposed Social Studies curriculum changes should be postponed until further investigation of these issues.
Sincerely, ABC
(2) Submit a public comment which will be given to SBOE members. Here is a great resource for help composing a comment.
Thank you for your help protecting public education in Texas!