Texas Board Passes New School Standards

Start brushing up on the Contract With America, Texans: The Texas State School Board voted Friday to approve new social studies standards that will require students to learn about the importance of Christianity in American history and “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schalfly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.” Other changes include making sure that students learn about the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to studying Martin Luther King’s nonviolence when they learn about civil rights. The vote was 11 to 4, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting in favor of the changes. A final vote on the changes will take place in May, but The New York Times writes that “given the Republican dominance of the board, it is unlikely many changes will be made.”