AUSTIN – A clash between the American Federation of Teachers and the state of Texas may come to a head next week. The State Board of Education will be meeting from September 10-13, and the teacher’s union believes they will hold a hearing on controversial learning materials.
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On the Texas AFT website, they cite a number of issues with the open education resources (OER) developed by the Texas Education Agency as part of House Bill 1605.
“These materials submitted for review for English language arts and reading contain what many consider an inappropriate amount of content related to the Bible and the teachings of Christianity,” the AFT stated.
According to the Texas Freedom Network, the materials, “overemphasize Christianity while giving little coverage to other religions or belief systems.” It’s also alleged the materials, “whitewash and distort historical truth.”
But Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath defended the materials at a hearing earlier this month. He said the materials are not biased towards Christianity, and that the agency is open to feedback.
Rep. Matt Schaefer, a Tyler Republican, embraced the possible materials at that same hearing.
“I don’t think we should ever be ashamed of mentioning the name of Jesus in our curriculum or shying away from the role of Christianity in developing this country, developing Western civilization and developing the very American and legal system that brings us here … today as lawmakers,” he said.
We will be closely monitoring next week’s hearing for any updates.
