Decision On Textbook Content Coming Soon

By ABC-7 Reporter Celina Avila

El Paso, Texas -This week, the State Board of Educationis meeting in Austin to decide who and what will be included in textbooks for almost five million Texas school children.

For the past few months, different committees have been meeting trying to decide new social studies standards that will be taught for the next decade.

Hispanics, Jewish-Americans and Christian groups are all arguing for a bigger presence in your child’s history lesson.

Social studies and history in elementary school is a time to learn about our forefathers and the impact they had in shaping the country’s future.

Right now, the state is required to teach children about talk show host Oprah Winfrey, but Mexican-American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez didn’t make the cut.

“We have individuals and leaders within Texas and the country that aren’t in there that many others believe are more important, ” said Linda Bridges, President of the Texas American Federation of Teachers.

The state’s Board of Education is holding hearings this week to adopt new social study textbook standards for kinder through eighth grade.

“When things become so politicized…bad decisions are made. Whatever happens, we live with for a long time, ” Bridges said. Sheadds textbooks have a shelf life of about ten years.

“There have already been made some significant omissions of latino and Hispanic figures from textbooks from different grades, “said EPISD spokeswoman Berenice Zubia. She said EPISD officials are also keeping a close eye on the new curriculum standards.

“We feel as a school district that is important to have more Hispanic figures also in our textbooks,” Zubia said.

“It’s hard to understand why state representative Irma Rangel would not be center in learning about the first Hispanic woman elected in the state legislature.,” said Bridges.

Bridges said social studies is an understanding of how things have evolved.

“Everyone has made a contribution and to omit one group or overemphasize another group distorts history,” she said.

It’s a history shared by blacks, whites, Native Americans, and Hispanics.

Once the standards are set and approved in March, the new textbooks will be in classrooms by 2013.