This decision is sure to create controversy. The Texas State Board of Education voted on Friday to take out mention of both Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller from the state’s mandatory history curriculum. They also decided to keep the Biblical character Moses in their curriculum because of his influence on U.S. founding documents, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The changes are part of an effort to selectively ”streamline” information in history classes for 5.4 million schoolchildren.
The assessment on the present curriculum provided each historical figure with a numerical importance rating that ranged from 1 to 20 by committee members. Clinton only ranked a five, even though she was the first woman in U.S. history to win a presidential nomination by a major political party.
Keller, a writer and activist born in 1888 who was the first deaf and blind American to earn a college degree, rated a seven.
Local members of the Texas legislature got a 20 rating. Because all students are required to learn about the current U.S. president, Trump was not assessed.
According to Texas Monthly, board members had considered cutting a
“value-laden” phrase about “all the heroic defenders who gave their lives” in the 1836 battle of the Alamo against Mexican soldiers in what was then Mexican Texas. One state official called it “politically correct nonsense,” and the board chose not to drop it.
“In Texas, you don’t mess with the Alamo and you don’t mess with our Christian heritage,” Texas Values president Jonathan Saenz said in a statement. “We applaud the majority of the State Board of Education for doing the right thing by restoring our foundational rights and history.”
This vote by the board is preliminary and still subject to change. The final vote on curriculum will take place in November.
What do you think about these decisions in Texas? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below this article.
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