AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — New guidelines on how social studies will be taught to millions of Texas school children are coming up for a preliminary vote.
The State Board of Education has been in the spotlight ahead of the Thursday vote because of quibbles over how much prominence to give civil rights leaders and the inclusion of Christmas. Those seem to have been smoothed over, but some people are still lobbying for changes.
What’s decided in Texas could have a much wider effect. The board will set the standards for teaching history and social studies to some 4.8 million K-12 students for 10 years.
But the guidelines also will be used by textbook publishers who develop material for the nation based on Texas, one of the largest markets.
The board is set to adopt final standards in March.