9.17.26
“Texas Hero Helping To Lead Children Back to Patriotism”
From Donna Garner
[COMMENTS FROM DONNA GARNER: Aaron Kinsey is a true, American patriot.
He graduated from Texas A&M University, was deputy commander of the Corps of Cadets, with a BBA in Accounting and an MS in Finance (4.0 GPA), and went on later in life to get his MBA from Harvard Business School.
After graduating from Texas A&M, he was commissioned in the U. S. Air Force where he served for more than 9 years, was a C-130 pilot, flew 120 combat missions, and taught pilots how to fly.
Aaron has his own Midland-based aviation company (American Patrols) where he uses aircraft to inspect oil and gas pipelines for problems best seen from the air.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott chose well when he appointed Aaron Kinsey chair of the Texas SBOE (State Board of Education) in 2023 and again in 2026.
Now we understand why Aaron Kinsey calls his SBOE newsletter “Aaron’s Airdrop.”
I have placed his latest Airdrop Newsletter on my website because Aaron explains the dramatic progress Texas is now making toward educating students to love, appreciate, honor, and revere the United States of America.
Texas students will benefit richly by studying the lives of the heroes and heroines who have made America the greatest country in the world.]
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AARON KINSEY’S AIRDROP – SEPTEMBER 2026
Excerpts from Aaron Kinsey’s newsletter:
…If you’re a red-blooded American patriot who cares about preserving our history, empowering parents, and ensuring Texas students receive a world-class education rooted in American excellence, I think you’ll be encouraged by these victories.
Here are the highlights (they’re good!)…
SOCIAL STUDIES TEKS (CURRICULUM STANDARDS FOR TEXAS)
Let’s start with an uncomfortable reality: Most Texas kids don’t know history.
Latest STAAR scores revealed that only 32% of students met social studies standards.
While there are many reasons for this dismal figure, one is that history is too often presented as a collection of boring, disconnected facts rather than a coherent story…
PRESENT GENERATION OPEN TO SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
The current student generation is open to socialism and communism due to multiple factors, not the least of which is a lack of understanding of the societal pain and suffering those ideologies produce.
…the Texas SBOE has taken action to teach the truth about American virtue, freedom, and the perils of communism.
Recognizing these challenges, the Board adopted a new framework of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for social studies in September 2025.
For grades K-2, the new model moved from a content-light approach and introduced foundational stories, documents, and symbols to help students develop a sense of identity and civic understanding from an early age.
Students will learn about the Mayflower Compact and its foundation in Christian values and the role-model found in George Washington as a responsible and respectful child.
Recitations will be added for many important American and Texan symbols, including the Star-Spangled Banner; Texas Our Texas; the United States and Texas Pledges of Allegiance; and Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
This will create a content-rich K-2 curriculum, heavily emphasizing foundational stories of our great nation and state.
For grades 3-8, we moved to a CHRONOLOGICAL approach to increase emphasis tying US and Texas history to our heritage.
To accommodate this change, the former World Cultures course was replaced with a model that presents history through the lens of Western civilization and its influence on America’s development.
At the high school level, we wove a pro-America theme throughout US and World History courses.
As the World History standards state, “This course consists of a high-level overview of world history with a special emphasis on the western and American tradition often highlighting contrasting ideals and their impacts across time and place.”
The adoption took place at the June and September meetings [2026].
We withstood immense pressure from the Red-Green Alliance (CAIR and woke groups like TCSS and AHA) who continually lobbied for more opportunities to insert their agendas.
We remained focused on creating a product reflecting Texas priorities and values.
Implementation will begin in the 2030-2031 school year. Why the wait?
As usual, Texas is leading the way in a new model of excellence, so a runway is needed to create and review content and train teachers.
The goal is simple: to ensure future generations believe in America and in Texas as beacons of freedom and prosperity.
And in case you missed it, our characterization of the tragic 9/11 attacks received significant national and international media attention.
Watch my Newsmax interview here.
LITERARY WORKS LIST
Running alongside the Social Studies revision was another major project that began in 2023.
Recent legislation directed the SBOE to develop a literary works list with at least one literary work per grade level.
After receiving a proposal from the Texas Education Commissioner (Mike Morath), the Board started debate on the list in January [2026]. The list was significantly narrowed from the original.
The result is a first-in-the-nation literary works list covering about 40% of the school year for English Language Arts and Reading while aligning closely with the Social Studies sequence.
This is important because…Social Studies instruction is often shortchanged by competing classroom demands.
By integrating history, biography, and foundational texts into English Language Arts and Reading, students will continue building historical and civic knowledge throughout the school day.
AMERICAN CLASSICS EMBEDDED IN WORKS LIST
In grades K-2, students will read about George Washington, Davy Crockett, Susan B. Anthony, and Pocahontas.
Grades 3-5 will read about Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Sam Houston.
In grades 6-8, students encounter the Gettysburg Address, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena. High school features Animal Farm, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet.
The list was approved in our June 2026 meeting.
If it looks like Texas is bringing classics back into the classroom, that’s because we are!
There’s more.
OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT TEXTS
In October 2025, I requested an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding the SBOE’s statutory duty to implement instruction on Old and New Testament texts.
Although this has been state law for over a decade, it’s never been fully implemented.
Attorney General Paxton responded that the Board could satisfy this obligation by incorporating qualifying texts in the standards for each grade.
That’s exactly what we did.
With the literary works list, every grade will include at least one text fulfilling this requirement – this will further underscore the roots of western civilization.
Don’t miss my DailyWire op-ed on the Social Studies standards and Literary Works List here.
CIVICS TRAINING
For years, Texans have called for a return to civics education.
In April [2026], the SBOE approved a new civics training, which was rolled out across Texas this summer.
Under the program, one administrator and one teacher from every campus in the state are required to attend training and bring those lessons back to their schools.
The goal is to equip educators with the basics of our country’s founding so they can pass that knowledge on to the next generation of Texans.
PERSONAL FINANCIAL LITERACY
During its most recent session, the Texas Legislature took action to prepare students for adulthood by requiring all Texas students to complete a semester-long personal financial literacy course before graduation.
You might think teaching students how to budget, save, invest, and build financial stability would be uncontroversial. It wasn't.
Several outside organizations worked aggressively to heavily influence the standards-writing process to backward-engineer state requirements to accommodate their pre-developed courses.
One such group, Next Generation Personal Finance, is closely tied to California and Gavin Newsom.
The organization promoted content that included radical topics with racial discrimination in finance with the ultimate goal of reparations.
This is incompatible with Texas values.
We fended off concerted efforts to influence the process toward their desired outcome.
At September’s meeting [2026], we passed standards establishing Texas as a national thought leader.
The new standards require students to develop financial goals across multiple time horizons, evaluate projected outcomes versus those in a socialist or communist economic system, and learn the practical skills necessary to navigate major life decisions.
The standards encourage students to finish school, get married, and find a job.
I can’t wait to see the impact of this policy on future generations!
THE WRAP-UP
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your support and interest in this work.
These accomplishments represent years of hard work and dedication by so many individuals passionate about strengthening Texas education.
The future is bright, and we’re continuing to press onward. I hope you’re as excited as I am about the future of education in Texas!
Thank you,
Aaron Kinsey
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[COMMENTS from Donna Garner: Texas State Board of Education members receive no remuneration for their time and efforts. They are elected and must pay for their campaigns with their own resources.]
PLEASE DONATE TO TEAM KINSEY -- https://secure.winred.com/aaron-kinsey-campaign/texasboardofeducation
Aaron Kinsey Campaign
PO Box 605
Midland, TX 79702
https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/sboe-board-members/sboe-member-district-15
MORE INFORMATION
9.4.26 -- “Elected TX State Bd. of Ed. Brings Back Love for America” -- From Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/9-4-26-elected-tx-state-bd-of-ed-brings-back-love-for-america-from-donna-garner/
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/