Legislative Information
TABSE Takes Action! - UPDATE
Dear TABSE Members,
Before the 2009-2010 school year comes to a close, let me take some time to inform you of some developments on the legislative side of education for Texas. As most of you have already heard and read, the Texas State Board of Education had proposed a change in the Social Studies/History TEKS curriculum. The changes proposed would add names of people to be included in the curriculum, delete names of some individuals currently included in the curriculum, move some names, dates and events to different grade levels for inclusion in the curriculum and alter some event titles, terms and descriptions of historical events of the past.
Various individuals, groups and organizations made appeals to the Texas SBOE to withdraw their curriculum change recommendations because it was indicated that some situations, specifics of historical importance are “not mentioned”. One example of the proposed changes are discussions about the 2000 and 2008 presidential elections, without mentioning the names of George W. Bush or Barack Obama in the text of the elections. Other areas of concern expressed by organizations of African American, Hispanic and other ethnic group interests included the minimizing of contributions of the Civil Rights Movement, and giving the impressions that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the primary leader of the movement, without recognizing the numerous individuals, groups and organizations of many cultures and backgrounds who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement through that historical period.
To learn about other objections to the curriculum change proposals, investigate Texas SBOE Social Studies/History TEKS on your computer search site. In late April and again on May 19, 2010, public hearings were conducted for the public address of SBOE recommendations. A letter was composed and signed by Dr. Elaine Bailey, TABSE State President and TABSE Affiliate Presidents which was sent to the Texas State Board of Education, denouncing the changes which were to be voted on in May. The TABSE letter expressed the importance of recording, teaching and learning the historically factual and honest discussions of names, dates, events and outcomes of events.
Despite public protest about the proposed SBOE curriculum changes, a vote was taken on May 20, 2010, to approve the changes as presented by the SBOE Board members. With the state of Texas being one of the biggest state purchasers of textbooks, along with California, the textbook companies are heavily influenced by decisions made by actions of the SBOE, and could make textbook changes which might impact the nation for decades to come. Make a conscience effort to inquire about the Social Studies/History curriculum in your school districts if textbook purchases are expected in the future.
Arizona State Immigration Law
The Texas Alliance of Black School Educators has joined forces with organizations from around the country to denounce the state of Arizona’s Immigration policy scheduled to go into effect in July 2010. TABSE has gone on record to indicate that discrimination and prejudice of any individual or group of people will not be acceptable as a pretense of securing the United States borders from illegal entry into the country. As has been discussed in the media, the state of Arizona is preparing to enact law which will permit state law enforcement officials to stop and detain any individual or individuals who might appear to be illegal occupants within Arizona. Such a law might be targeted towards individuals of Hispanic heritage who might be from Mexico without proper documentation. The law would allow detainment of any individual by law enforcement agencies that is unable to provide immediate documentation of citizenship upon being stopped. Police stops of individuals will not have to be based upon a committing of a crime or breaking of any law, only the law enforcement official’s belief that an individual might be an illegal entrant into the state.
The Arizona law could be unlawfully implemented by law enforcement to discriminate against any group of people such as Hispanic, Haitian, Asian or African if approved as law. Despite this being a policy of another state other than Texas, TABSE has indicated through written letter to Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, that the law if enacted would be as discriminatory as World War II Nazi Gestapo detainment or U.S. Japanese-American resettlement camps, and it is the hope that the governor would explore other methods of trying to protect its borders from illegal entry, in a manner which would not be viewed as discriminatory by policy or implementation. TABSE is opposed to discrimination of any form of an individual or group of people, and stands joined with others who believe in justice and equal opportunity.
