The Dallas News is reporting that a tweet from the Board of Education, public hearings on social studies standards and the way teachers will teach certain things about the Alamo are set to be held on Tuesday. A vote on the issue is may be scheduled in November.
That's because the social studies curriculum for seventh graders in Texas could mean changing the description for they way youngsters learn about the Alamo. Even suggesting the changes has infuriated our Governor of Texas.
At the center of the changes is removing the word “heroic,” a word always used to describe the people who looked out for the structure and purpose of the Alamo, including those who protected it. This is among the items included in a report penned by an advisory panel to the State Board of Education on how to structure the curriculum,
In a Dallas News report released Friday, "heroic" was listed among other things. Current curriculum phrasing of the topic is the “siege of the Alamo and all of the heroic defenders who gave their lives there,” according to the Dallas News.
The word in question was reportedly described as being “value-charged” and the advisory panel has suggested doing away with everything except the “siege of the Alamo.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter to say this:
The Dallas News also reported that the mandate also suggests doing away with a mandate for students to describe “the Travis Letter,” penned by Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis in the midst of the fight..
State land commissioner George P. Bush took issue with another point of the proposition, which wanted to do away with a mandate for students to describe “the Travis Letter,” penned by Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis in the midst of the fight, the Dallas News reported.
The panel’s suggestion stems from an idea that educators can instead include the letter as part of a broader lesson on the Alamo, the outlet reported.
State Board of Education Chairwoman Donna Bahorich took to Twitter on Friday with this:
After all the criticism and propositions on the extensive curriculum requirements, the proposition was created as a means to re-organize it, Debbie Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, told the Dallas News, adding that they tried to weigh considerations by whether something could "be reduced by either deleting information, combining standards or clarifying.”
“That was the goal,” Ratcliffe continued. “They suggested deleting the Travis letter because they think when teachers talk about the Alamo they will absolutely mention it, but not having it outlined specifically just meant teachers would spend less time on it.”