Story By: Jacob Lehrer

The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has sent out a roadmap this past weekend detailing ways educators and social studies curriculum can comply with a Texas law that was passed last year. Texas’ so-called “Critical Race Theory” bill, or  Texas SB3, passed last year aiming to prevent the teaching of critical race theory in the social studies curriculum. 

The Texas State Board of Education was supposed to revise the social studies curriculum this November. However, after lots of pushback and controversy, the State Board of Education decided to postpone revising the new curriculum until the year 2025. 

This roadmap for the time being allows educators to continue teaching social studies within the framework of SB3, which stated that the SBOE was charged with revising the curriculum this year on how educators were supposed to teach within this framework.

The roadmap places the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) side by side with SB 3. 

Texas SB 3 discusses the need for a civics training course for school districts, parental access to educational materials, and a focus on American civics education. SB 3 states that educators in Texas are prohibited from teaching “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; an individual, by virtue of the individual ’s race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously….an individual, by virtue of the individual ’s race or sex, bears responsibility, blame, or guilt for actions committed by other members of the same race or sex…” This list continues topics that promote what the Texas legislature is viewing as Critical Race theory. 

SB3 also states that educators that teach on widely controversial topics have to do so without political bias and objectivity; teachers cannot teach their political opinion on controversial matters of social and public policy and politics. 

There is no extra credit or course work for students to do political activism, lobbying, public policy advocacy, and the like. This does not include career and technology internships, local community service, internship on governmental processes, nor free student speech upon controversial topics. 

The bill leaves open room for interpretation, as teachers have done so saying the bill is confusing. Although Texas Senator Bryan Hughes, who wrote the Bill, argues that it is not. 

Now the state Board of Education has provided a roadmap that gives standards and guidelines to help educators in social studies to navigate teachings that follow the new state law. 

The 26 page roadmap pulls from the current Texas social studies curriculum and adds a few things. The roadmap shows accepted practices of K-12 social studies and what SB 3 means practically in K-12 social studies.

The roadmap follows educating on American democracy, how it was founded, the ideas that created it and the people from whom those ideas sprung forth, and the documents like the Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constitution, along with the Texas Constitution and similar documents. 

It also guides teachers to continue instructing students throughout all American history, who the key players are, the values, the documents, the organizations, political parties, and so forth that influenced what America has come to be in terms of American exceptionalism and American democracy. 

The roadmap details numerous times on teaching students the values of American government at the federal state and local level and the key players in history who helped develop American values, showed exceptional citizenship, responsibility, and American morals throughout United States history. 

It reminds teachers of having students learn American civil discourse, politics, the treatment of neighbors, how to vote and the importance of voting and holding leaders accountable, and to be engaged in the democratic process. Furthermore, it goes into teaching students how to be informed and teaching students the values of American exceptionalism and patriotism.

It was a lot on government and civics and educating students how to be effective civil servants in American democracy on the local, state, and federal level. The rest of it focuses on how the teachers can teach race, gender, slavery, history on minorities, and the like.

The roadmap includes, but is not limited to, the writings of Frederick Douglass; Brown v Board of Education, the works of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Act/movement; Susan B Anthony and the women’s suffrage movement; indigenous history, especially in Texas; the Indian Removal Act; the history of slavery, and the Fugitive Slave Act; Emancipation and Reconstruction; Hispanic civil rights, and the list goes on. 

The roadmap primarily states what teachers are still allowed to instruct on and continue in the teaching of social studies and history. It clarifies more on what is the accepted teaching curriculum in Texas schools under the new Texas SB 3. The main prohibitions in teaching history and social studies are from what is outlined in SB 3.