Bill could turn back page, return power to Texas board of ed
AUSTIN, Texas — The often-combative Texas Board of Education would expand its ability to reject textbooks it doesn’t like, rolling back limits that have been in place for more than two decades, under a proposal on the verge of clearing the state Legislature.
Some fear the bill’s benign language would, intentionally or not, return broad influence to a veteran bloc of social conservatives on the 15-member, elected board. That same group previously has attempted to deemphasize lessons on evolution and climate change, and insist that publishers edit classroom materials to better conform to Republican ideology.
How impactful is the textbook market in Texas? Large enough that changes made for the state can affect what’s taught nationwide, though modern, electronic classroom materials have made it easier to tailor lessons to individual states and school districts — thus diluting Texas’ national influence some in recent years.
The board’s ability to influence what gets published in textbooks — even sometimes line-editing materials to remove things its members opposed — was far greater before 1995. That year, the Texas Legislature passed an omnibus education bill that included limits allowing the board only to reject textbooks when discovering factual errors or material that didn’t conform to Texas curriculum standards, which mandate what gets taught its about 5.3 million students.