Saturday is Independence Day, a day to celebrate democracy and the freedoms we share.
But we live in strange times.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) voted last week to add Bible stories to the required reading lists for Texas schoolchildren. “Even if Texas parents opt their children out of instruction, those students could still be tested on it.”
Last Thursday, HISD rode the coattails of the SBOE's decision by adopting the Bible-infused Bluebonnet reading curriculum that the Texas Education Agency developed. It bears noting that it will cost Texas taxpayers up to $8.4 million to fix thousands of errors in this curriculum that has first graders reading "The Parable of the Prodigal Son."
So much for the separation of church and state. Even the middle schoolers we spoke to last week know that this violates the first amendment of the US Constitution.
The State Board of Education also approved a new social studies curriculum that portrays the United States as uniquely virtuous, expands Texas history while reducing world history, scales back instruction on slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and the role of race and ethnicity in society, includes explicitly anti-Muslim content, and places greater emphasis on Christianity and Bible-based lessons.
Students deserve better than a sanitized version of history.
Here are two ways to take action for public education.
Want to understand the playbook behind today's attacks on public education? Join us for a Zoom watch party of Christopher Rufo's 2022 presentation, where he outlines his strategy for dismantling public education: "To get to universal school choice, you really need to operate from a premise of universal public school distrust." Listen while you cook, draw, or just relax, then stay for a discussion about what Rufo's strategy means for public education and how we respond.
Or, if being in motion is more your style, join CVPE on July 12 at 4:30 to blockwalk for public education.
As we celebrate the Fourth of July, the question becomes what it means to protect the freedoms we’re celebrating. Thank you for standing with public education.
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