AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation urges the State Board of Education (SBOE) to give considerable scrutiny to the proposed changes to Texas’ social studies curriculum during its meeting tomorrow.

“We are concerned that important pieces of history are being removed or changed,” said Foundation education policy analyst Brooke Terry. “In addition, we see repeated examples of bias against individualism, against the free enterprise system, and against personal responsibility.”

During the board’s March meeting, Terry presented the board with examples where the writing teams for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) had removed or changed important pieces of history and government to reflect an anti-free-market viewpoint.

Some of the examples cited in Brooke Terry’s testimony:

* Children’s biographies of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen F. Austin removed from early grades;
* Independence Day, Veterans’ Day, and anthems and mottos for both Texas and the United States removed from section on holidays, customs, and celebrations;
* Liberty Bell removed from section on patriotic symbols;
* Multiple references to “free enterprise” changed to “capitalism” or deleted;
* “Supporting one’s family” removed from section on importance of personal responsibility; and
* John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government removed from high school.

Texas is in the process of revising the TEKS to “vertically align” with the expectations of the state’s higher education institutions so that Texas public school graduates enter college ready for college-level work. The State Board is currently reviewing drafts submitted by the “vertical teams,” with final approval of the revised curriculum scheduled for next spring.

Brooke Terry is an education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.

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