6.26.26
“What Students Will Be Taught – Major Decisions by TX SBOE”
From Donna Garner
COMMENTS FROM DONNA GARNER
[Members of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) are elected by the public across the state.
SBOE members receive no remuneration for their service; therefore, they cannot “be bought off” by special interests.
This may make it financially difficult on SBOE members, but the law itself is sensible because it is meant to keep special interests from trying to control our Texas public schools and students’ lives.]
*TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FINAL SOCIAL STUDIES TEKS, LITERARY BOOKS, AND VOCABULARY LIST -- https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/teks/social-studies-teks-review-2025?utm_source=chatgpt.com
On the above SBOE hyperlink, the public can see all the information about the June 22 – 26, 2026 SBOE meetings at which the new K-12 Social Studies Standards and the Required Literary Book List were scheduled to be adopted.
Toward the bottom of the hyperlink page are posted the amendments offered by each of the SBOE members at the final 6.26.26 meeting.]
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SBOE FINAL VOTING RESULTS ON 6.26.26
K-12 LITERARY WORKS LIST -- PASSED
K–8 SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS -- PASSED
9-12 SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS – As reported by various media, “The board failed to finish debate on high school courses and punted them for reconsideration in a September 2026 SBOE meeting.”
K-12 VOCABULARY LIST – The required vocabulary list is scheduled for a future SBOE meeting for first reading and filing authorization.
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On 6.26.26, SBOE members decided to stagger the implementation of the Required Literary Works List:
K – 5th Grades in 2030-31
6th Grade in 2031 -32
7th and 8th Grades in 3032 – 33
9th – 12th Grades in 2033 – 34
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6.24.26 – “State Board of Education Gives Preliminary Approval to New Reading List” -- By Addie Hovland – Texas Scorecard – Excerpts from this article --
The Texas State Board of Education [SBOE] gave preliminary approval to the state’s new English Language Arts reading list during a Tuesday meeting [6.23.26].
The new list will determine the titles kids enrolled in government [public] schools are required to read.
The reading list focuses on classic literature, U.S. and Texas history, and includes some passages from the Bible.
The new required reading list is a result of House Bill 1605 passed in 2023, which overhauled how instructional materials are approved and reviewed in Texas public schools, and mandated the creation of a required reading and vocabulary list.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation reports that the list not only seeks to teach literacy and literacy skills, but also “to build students’ knowledge of the world, especially America.”
…Those in support of the new standards and reading list highlighted its rigor, use of biblical references in a culturally and historically relevant manner, and preservation of both classical western literature and American founding documents for civic literacy and moral formation.
…SBOE Chairman Aaron Kinsey (R–Midland) provided clarity to HB 1605 which only set minimum requirements, meaning the proposed reading list is still within the board’s legislative and statutory authority.
…Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, provided real-time updates of changes made to the reading list.
Among the changes proposed was an amendment by SBOE Member Pam Little (R–Fairview) to remove “You are Special” by Max Lucado. She argued that the title would promote bullying in schools.
SBOE Member Keven Ellis (R–Lufkin) argued that the book would do the opposite.
The book remained on the list following a 7-6 vote.
…“The Road Not Taken” was originally struck from the list but was later moved from 4th grade to 7th grade.
…After the amendments were made, the reading list—including the Bible references—passed in a 9-5 preliminary vote.
A vote for final approval will be taken on Friday [6.26.26].
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6.24.26 – “Texas State Board of Education Gives Initial Approval to New Elementary Social Studies Standards” – by Silas Allen – Dallas Morning News – Excerpts from this article: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-board-social-studies-standards-22317959.php
The State Board of Education gave initial approval early Wednesday [6.24.26] to a new set of social studies standards for elementary school students…
The 10-2 vote represents one of the final steps in a monthslong process [actually a process that has taken several years] to overhaul the standards that lay out what students are expected to learn in their social studies classes at each grade level.
…During Tuesday’s meeting, board member Keven Ellis, R-Lufkin, brought an amendment to the kindergarten standards to include Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman and the first Native American to earn a pilot’s license. Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892.
Ellis also proposed a fifth-grade standard on Phillis Wheatley, widely considered the first African American author of a published book of poetry.
Both standards were added with no objection from board members.
…Board member Tom Maynard, R-Florence, offered an overhaul of the eighth grade standards that pared down the required content considerably. The amendment stripped out a section on Texas’ prehistoric past, including how geographic features and environmental conditions affected settlement patterns.
…Several times, when a Democrat board member proposed an amendment, board member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, asked whether that person would commit to voting in favor of the full document if the proposed amendments passed.
Hall accused the board’s four Democrats of operating in bad faith by proposing amendments with no intention of supporting the standards overall.
…When the board took a vote on the elementary standards shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, Democrats Marisa Perez-Diaz of San Antonio and Gustavo Reveles of El Paso voted no.
[Democrat Staci Childs and fellow Democrat Rebecca Bell-Metereau of San Marcos left the meeting before the vote.]
The board is scheduled to reconvene at 9 a.m., [6.25.26] when it will continue discussion of social studies standards for middle school and high school.
A final vote on the standards is scheduled for Friday [6.26.26].
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6.25.26 – “Texas Board Gives Preliminary Approval to Social Studies Standards Tying Islam More Closely to Violence” -- By Silas Allen – Dallas Morning News – Excerpts from this article: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-board-islam-standards-22319935.php
The Texas State Board of Education voted early Thursday [6.25.26] to give preliminary approval to an amended list of state social studies standards that draws even stronger connections between Islam and violence.
The board voted Wednesday night and early Thursday to give preliminary approval to standards for grades six through eight, as well as U.S. History and World History.
The board will take up amendments to the remaining courses, including U.S. Government, at Thursday’s [6.25.26] meeting.
…The 15-member State Board of Education — where Republicans hold a majority — is in the final steps of a monthslong process to overhaul the standards that lay out what students are expected to learn in their social studies classes in each grade.
Roughly 5.5 million children are enrolled in Texas public schools, and the proposed standards would affect students for years to come.
Dozens of speakers, some traveling to Austin from across the state, spoke for and against the proposed standards Monday, the last opportunity for the public to weigh in…
The board discussed and revised late into the night Tuesday and gave initial approval early Wednesday to a new set of social studies standards for elementary school students…
…Over the course of more than 10 hours, board members debated dozens of amendments before voting to give preliminary approval to the amended document one or two grade levels at a time.
One of the biggest challenges the board faced during the amendment process was instructional time.
In most grades, the proposed standards already took up at least as much time as is available in the school year.
That meant that any board member who wanted to add a concept to the standards also had to cut or consolidate a concept elsewhere.
The issue was particularly pressing in the World History course, which was overloaded considerably with required concepts.
Shannon Trejo, the Texas Education Agency’s deputy commissioner of school programs, told the board that, without cuts, the board could end up sending a set of standards to teachers that required more time to teach than they have in a single school year.
…Board Chairman Aaron Kinsey, R-Midland, said the board would have to make further revisions on Friday [6.26.26] before voting to give final approval.
After the board approved several cuts to the standards, board member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, reintroduced an amendment…asking students to explain “the Prophet Mohammed’s brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes,” as well as the taking of female captives as harem slaves.
…Hall said the amendment was his top priority, saying Mohammed is one of the most consequential figures in world history.
The board approved [Hall’s] amendment by a 9-5 vote.
…Another of the concepts the board pared down during Wednesday’s meeting was a standard for several grades that required students to consider historical events from multiple perspectives, including the points of view of people whose voices are less represented in historical accounts.
Republican board members stripped out the part of that standard dealing with underrepresented voices, leaving a standard that only asks students to “compare and contrast multiple perspectives on a historical event."
Board member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, said the change would streamline the standards and save instructional time.
Hall questioned the value of asking students to consider a wide range of viewpoints rather than focusing strictly on historical facts.
…During discussion of the sixth-grade standards, board member Will Hickman, R-Houston, proposed a new standard requiring that students be able to contrast fascist ideas with the principles laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
The standards already included material on the tenets of communism, and Hickman said it’s important for students to understand the features of other repressive forms of government.
After board members workshopped the standard to prevent it from adding too much instructional time, the board approved the amendment without objection.
The board is scheduled to hold a final vote on the social studies standards for all grade levels at a meeting Friday [6.26.26].
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MORE INFORMATION
6.26.26 – “Texas Becomes First State To Require Students To Read the Bible with Required Literary List” – by Isaac Yu – Austin American Statesman -- https://www.statesman.com/politics/texas/article/social-studies-overhaul-bible-christianity-22320559.php
6.25.26 – “Texas Board Gives Preliminary Approval to Social Studies Standards Tying Islam More Closely to Violence” -- By Silas Allen – Dallas Morning News –https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-board-islam-standards-22319935.php
6.24.26 – “State Board of Education Gives Preliminary Approval to New Reading List” -- By Addie Hovland – Texas Scorecard -- https://texasscorecard.com/state/state-board-of-education-gives-preliminary-approval-to-new-reading-list/
6.24.26 – “Texas State Board of Education Gives Initial Approval to New Elementary Social Studies Standards” – by Silas Allen – Dallas Morning News –https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-board-social-studies-standards-22317959.php
4.24.26 -- “10 Important Years with TX. Ed. Comm. Mike Morath” -- From Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/4-24-26-10-important-years-with-tx-ed-comm-mike-morath-from-donna-garner/
4.2.26 -- “SBOE Members Are Vital to the Future of Texas’ Students” -- By Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/4-2-26-sboe-members-are-vital-to-the-future-of-texas-students-by-donna-garner/
1.13.26 – “Bringing Traditional, Classical Literature Back to Texas Schools” -- By Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/1-13-26-bringing-traditional-classical-literature-back-to-texas-schools-by-donna-garner/
8.28.25 -- “TX Schools Using New, Printed, Character-Building Curriculum” -- From Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/8-28-25-tx-schools-using-new-printed-character-building-curriculum-from-donna-garner/
6.6.24 -- "Position Paper – Teaching Biblical Literature As a Part of English/Language Arts/Reading” -- From a collaboration of English/Language Arts/Reading classroom teachers ー published on July 2, 2001 -- https://donnagarner.org/6-6-24-position-paper-teaching-biblical-literature-as-a-part-of-english-language-arts-reading/