06/09/2026
I want to address Friday's vote by the Texas State Board of Education to approve new high school social studies standards.
I believe our students deserve to learn history honestly and completely. But there is a difference between teaching history and presenting it in a way that paints an entire religion or community through a narrow, inflammatory lens.
I strongly disagree with the SBOE's decision to move forward with language that does just that. Requiring students to learn about 9/11 through the lens of "radical Islam" while using highly charged descriptions of Islam's founder and military history risks reinforcing stereotypes rather than teaching students to think critically and understand historical context.
This matters because our classrooms are filled with children from different backgrounds, cultures and faiths. No child should have to sit in a classroom and feel that their faith - or their family - is being portrayed as inherently dangerous, inferior or unwelcome.
I believe our responsibility is to put children first, protect their sense of belonging and ensure they receive an education that prepares them to understand a diverse world - not one that divides them.
Public schools should be a place where every child is valued, every student can see themselves reflected with dignity and history is taught with rigor, accuracy and context.
