CSCOPE Reform on House Floor Shortly

State Rep. Toth: Were anxiously awaiting a House Floor vote. Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas In early February Senator Dan Patrick chairman of the Senate Education Committee announced significant changes to the CSCOPE Curriculum program that had many Texas parents up in arms. While Senators Patrick (right) & Donna Campbells Senate Bill 1406 granting the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) oversight of the CSCOPE curriculum will be debated on the Texas House Floor today one Texas mother Kara Sands (left) is still outraged after a school quiz given to her son at Flour Bluff Intermediate School in Corpus Christi seemingly blamed the United States for the events of September 11 2001.   Kara Sands a mother from Corpus Christi was horrified when she learned her son was being taught in school that Americans are partly responsible for the terrorist attacks that took the lives of more than 3000 people on that dark day in 2001. Sands son who attends Flour Bluff Intermediate School in Corpus Christi was asked to take a quiz about the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001. One of the questions on the multiple-choice quiz was:

Why might the United States be a target for terrorism?"

The younger Sands answer which was marked as correct by his teacher was:

Decisions we made in the United States have had negative effects on people elsewhere." Im not going to justify radical terrorists by saying we did anything to deserve that; over 3000 people died" Ms. Sands told ABC affiliate KRIS-TV.

According to the principal at Flour Bluff the quiz in question was based on a video distributed by SAFARI Montage a multimedia service providing videos to schools nationwide. In Texas it is often used in conjunction with CSCOPE the states curriculum management system. CSCOPE has already been a subject of controversy especially after students were assigned a project to create a flag for a new socialist nation." Sands previously took issue with a worksheet on the Bill of Rights her son completed which names food and medicines as rights and not personal responsibilities.

He got marked wrong because it is it is our responsibility for shelter its our responsibility for food for medicine its the governments responsibility" said Sands. When I teach my children that you have to work hard and you have to earn a living and they go to school and learn something different I absolutely take issue with that."

Sands and other concerned parents brought their concerns about CSCOPE to the Flour Bluff school board meeting March 28 where a lack of response lead to their taking the battle to the Texas State Legislature in Austin. Lt. Gov. Dewhursts backing quickly helped Sen. Patricks bill pass the Senate on April 15th with Senate co-authors Jane Nelson Ken Paxton and others also on board. SB 1406s primary sponsor in the House is State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) who helped usher the bill to the House Calendar for floor consideration Wednesday afternoon May 15. Toth (right) had also authored HB 760 and worked with Reps. Debbie Riddle Dwayne Bohac Linda Harper-Brown and Lois Kolkhorst. The bill moving forward on the House floor SB 1406 would put CSCOPE under the authority of the Elected State Board of Education. In early February Senator Patrick in coordination with the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC) announced significant changes to the CSCOPE curriculum management system.  The TESCCC has worked with Senator Patrick as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and the State Board of Education (SBOE) to address concerns raised at a recent committee hearing on the CSCOPE system. The two parties agreed to several immediate as well as forthcoming changes. The changes that take effect immediately include:

1. All future meetings of the TESCCC Governing Board beginning with the February meeting will be public with all the respective notice requirements being met.
2. The TESCCC will begin a joint review process of all CSCOPE lessons with the SBOE beginning with Social Studies.
3. Amendment of all Terms of Use Agreements signed by both teachers and districts removing civil or criminal penalties associated with the release of CSCOPE content.
4. Clarifying that all teachers and districts may post any and all CSCOPE lessons that they deem necessary.

In addition to these immediate transparency and quality control changes CSCOPE will also undergo structural governance and other changes including:

1. Ending the non-profit 501(c)3 arrangement that incorporates CSCOPE.
2. Initiating the posting of CSCOPE lesson content to their public website.
3. Creating a standing curriculum review panel comprised of:  parents teachers school administrators members of the SBOE and TESCCC board members.

Said State Rep. Toth recently The countdown for the end of session has begun and is busier than ever with only 24 more days left in session. I authored the CSCOPE Transparency Act HB 760 while Senator Dan Patrick authored the companion SB 1406 and since the Senate CSCOPE hearing my office has seen Texans from all over the state taken numerous phone calls and read through several hundred emails regarding the debacle that is CSCOPE. Texans are concerned about the content of the curriculum and our future generation. After much discussion on this very hot topic we were able to lay SB 1406 out in the House Public Education Committee and when Chairman Aycock (right) announced this bill passed and would be sent to the calendar committee applause erupted in the hearing room. Since this has already passed the Senate were anxiously awaiting a House Floor vote and a big thank you to Chairman Aycock and all the members of Public Education for hearing this bill and for getting it voted out of committee quickly.