By Gail Lowe State Board of Education Chairman
If one repeats a lie often enough at some point people start to believe it represents the truth. Such is the case with the notion that the State Board of Education is removing all mention of Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from Texas curriculum standards and textbooks.
The problem is the rumor is untrue.
Members of the board have been inundated with correspondence and phone calls from across the country demanding that these individuals not be excised.
The State Board of Education has stated publicly at each meeting since July 2009 -- when the rumor was fueled by erroneous media reports and e-mail blasts by national organizations that our members have no intention of removing either Chavez or Marshall from the social studies curriculum framework which is under review.
A vote to adopt these revised standards will come later this spring.
Well-educated students should know the legacy of Cesar Chavez to secure better working conditions for farm workers and his co-founding of the United Farm Workers organization. We also expect students to understand the contributions of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and his role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling on civil rights.
It is patently untrue that we have proposed the removal of either individual from our standards.
Then came the mistaken reports that the SBOE was deleting Christmas from Texas classrooms. Although a teacher panel had recommended removing Christmas and the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah from a sixth-grade requirement that students learn about major religious holidays celebrated around the world the State Board of Education again repeatedly announced we would not remove these holidays.
Rumors are still swirling that instruction about Christmas may be in jeopardy. Again this is completely untrue.
Now some newspapers are reporting that the SBOE has proposed removal of many significant Latinos" from the social studies curriculum and the exclusion of civil rights groups and minorities. One wonders whether these journalists have examined the standards for themselves or whether they prefer to perpetuate the rumors without any verification of their truthfulness.
Take for example the high school U.S. History Since 1877 standards.
Students will study political issues such as Indian policies growth of political machines growth of labor unions farm issues and social issues that affect women and minorities. They must describe the role of political organizations that promoted the civil rights movement policies that created the Great Society affirmative action and Title IX.
They also should explain how the contributions of people of various racial ethnic and religious groups have shaped the American culture.
Among the numerous individuals listed for study in this course are:
- Susan B. Anthony
- Ida B. Wells
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Marcus Garvey
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Cesar Chavez
- Hector P. Garcia
- Thurgood Marshall and
- Dolores Huerta
Individuals added in earlier grades include:
- Raul Gonzales
- the Tuskegee Airmen
- Ellen Ochoa
- Lydia Mendoza and
- Chelo Silva
They join names such as:
- Carmen Lomas Garza
- Cleto Rodriguez
- Colin Powell
- Garrett Morgan
- George Washington Carver
- Harriet Tubman
- Henry B. Gonzalez
- Irma Rangel
- Phillis Wheatley
- Rosa Parks
- Sojourner Truth and
- Tomie de Paola who already are listed in the expectations of what students should know.
And in Texas students spend two full years fourth grade and seventh grade learning about our state and its founding.
That study could not be done effectively without students knowing the contributions of Cabeza de Vaca Francisco Coronado Jose de Escandon Martin de Leon Antonio Margil de Jesus Francisco Hidalgo Erasmo Seguin Juan Seguin Jose Antonio Navarro and Lorenzo de Zavala all significant Latinos who played a pivotal role in our history.
The Texas State Board of Education recognizes a fundamental principle of our great republic is that all men are created equal endowed by God with the
unalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness regardless of their racial or ethnic heritage.
Texas students should study historically significant men and women based on the individuals contributions to our state and nation not based on their surname or skin color. And they must understand that these ideals are part of what gives our country its unique position in the world.
Our focus is on a general diffusion of knowledge about history and the free-enterprise system not on the politics of racial or cultural division.
It is unfortunate that news reports are not focused on the same goal for Texas students.
Gail Lowe (R-Lampasas) is chairman of the 15-member State Board of Education. She lives in Lampasas.
Now some newspapers are reporting that the SBOE has proposed removal of many significant Latinos" from the social studies curriculum and the exclusion of civil rights groups and minorities. One wonders whether these journalists have examined the standards for themselves or whether they prefer to perpetuate the rumors without any verification of their truthfulness.
Take for example the high school U.S. History Since 1877 standards.
Students will study political issues such as Indian policies growth of political machines growth of labor unions farm issues and social issues that affect women and minorities. They must describe the role of political organizations that promoted the civil rights movement policies that created the Great Society affirmative action and Title IX.
They also should explain how the contributions of people of various racial ethnic and religious groups have shaped the American culture.
Among the numerous individuals listed for study in this course are:
