Texas Education Board Passes Social Studies, Upholds Religious Freedom

Board Finalizes History/Social Studies Curriculum Standards

AUSTIN, Texas, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 9-5 to complete its review and updating of social studies educational standards for the state, as scheduled for K-12 courses, except for the Economics standards, which passed by a unanimous vote, 14-0 (one abstention).  This is a process that the SBOE goes through every ten years for this subject.  This time, the process took almost eighteen months to complete, as it began in January 2009.  Additionally, the SBOE, in a bipartisan vote, passed an amendment to the social studies educational standards comparing and contrasting the phrase "separation of church and state" with the Founding Fathers' reasons to protect religious freedom.  In another move, late on Thursday night, the SBOE voted to add U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Sandra Day O'Connor.

"This curriculum standard on religious freedom has extraordinary historical and educational value that will serve Texas students well for years to come," said Jonathan Saenz, Esq., director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute.  "It was great to see bipartisan support for such common sense language."

"The Board has adopted a very balanced, common sense set of standards supported by teachers, professors, experts, and parents all across the state," said Saenz.  "These standards will serve our Texas students well for years to come."

The amendment encourages students to go back to the Constitution and First Amendment to learn about religious freedom.  The amendment reads, "Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed it free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof and compare and contrast this to the phrase 'separation of church and state.'"

In his testimony before the SBOE on Wednesday, Liberty Institute President/CEO Kelly Shackelford encouraged the Board to pass this type of amendment. The amendment, proposed by Bob Craig, would require in-depth study of the Constitution and First Amendment to compare and contrast the phrase "separation of church and state," as the term does not appear in any founding documents.

"The new addition to have students compare and contrast 'separation of church and state' with the actual words of the Constitution is an excellent idea and will be a real service to the students," said Shackelford. "It takes a true liberal extremist to oppose students reading the Constitution."

The SBOE, which consists of fifteen elected officials representing the State of Texas, meets every two months and approves curriculum standards and textbooks for use in public schools statewide and other education-related matters.  The standards passed by the Board will be in place for the next ten years.

Liberty Institute is a non-profit policy and legal organization committed to protecting freedoms and strengthening families.  Based in Dallas, Liberty Institute also has an office in Austin where its legislative division is active in helping monitor public policy in Texas.  Learn more at www.libertyinstitute.org.

SOURCE Liberty Institute