Grading Texas

Former state Education Commissioner Michael Williams recently offered some advice to the State Board of Education, which soon will begin rewriting new social studies curriculum standards to conform to the new anti-critical race theory law.

“Just tell the truth. Just put the truth in the standards, and you will be just fine,” Williams said. “Kids will be able to handle the truth.”

According to an item in Texas Education News, the former commissioner, an appointee of then-Gov. Rick Perry, addressed the board at his portrait unveiling ceremony in the board’s meeting room.

His advice was sound. Telling the truth is always the right choice for educators, and it is what teachers do in their classrooms every day.

But Williams was talking about a law designed to make Texas education less truthful by whitewashing what teachers can tell their students about racism, past and present, in America. And he was speaking to an elected board with a history of trying to rewrite parts of our history to downplay the important contributions of people of color.

There are different members on the board now. But some members have shown they are still reluctant for students to be taught some important truths, including the obvious impact of humans on climate change, something, like racism, that these children will have to learn to address or suffer tragic consequences from as adults.

Williams is correct. Children want the truth and, as long as the lessons and educational materials are age appropriate, can handle the truth.

The political effort to whitewash the teaching of racism obviously is not being driven by children. It is being driven by adults. These include a governor, many legislators and a growing number of school board members at the local level, who are seeking short-term political gain that risks our children’s future.

They are stirring up a vocal minority of parents who are uncomfortable with the truth of our growing diversity and the issue of racism and don’t want it discussed in their children’s classrooms.

But the kids are ready to learn. And if they don’t learn the truth, the whole truth, about our critical issues and problems, how can they be prepared to develop the potential path to an equitable, tolerant society that their parents and so-called government leaders refuse to pursue?

Clay Robison

First, voting rights came under attack by the political powers that be in Texas. Now, another crucial element of our democracy – public education – has become a major target of Gov. Greg Abbott and the extreme right wing of the Republican Party.

Why? Because Abbott and his allies are more narrowly focused on their own political preservation than they are on the future of our state or the futures of Texas’ 5.4 million public school children. Instead of protecting and promoting democracy, they seek to tear it down.

The attack on public education began in earnest with the enactment of the so-called critical race theory law to whitewash the teaching of racism and discourage classroom discussions of other issues that make many conservative voters uncomfortable.

It is bad enough to interfere with teachers’ efforts to teach the whole truth about our history. But the law’s deliberate vagueness makes it even worse. Already, some parents and school officials have misinterpreted the law to absurd and hurtful extremes. In a handful of instances, well-regarded books by Black authors have been removed from school libraries and classrooms, and one school administrator even told teachers to have books in their classrooms offering “opposing” views of the Holocaust.

These misinterpretations, deliberate or not, will increase. In some districts, teachers work in fear that one of their lessons or classroom discussions could come under attack by a parent or would-be school board candidate, placing their careers in jeopardy.

Does Abbott care? No, not as long as the law wins him votes in next year’s Republican primary.

Republican Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth continued the attack on public education by threatening a witch hunt for several hundred listed books in school libraries and classrooms, mainly books dealing with race relations, diversity, LGBTQ issues and sexuality.

Not to be left behind, Abbott then took Krause’s threat to another extreme by writing to the Texas Association of School Boards to complain about alleged “pornography” in schools. He didn’t identify any specific books, because he was simply playing to parents who may misuse the term, “pornographic,” to refer to any book they don’t like. The governor’s letter was another attack on public education.

Local school districts already have procedures in place for investigating parental complaints about books or other instructional materials they find objectionable.

Krause, a largely unknown legislator, is trying to increase his name identification for a statewide race for attorney general. Abbott is competing with two right-wing extremist challengers to see who can make the most outrageous comments or take the most extreme positions before the March GOP primary, where extremism may go a long way toward determining the party’s nominees.

In the process, they are disrespecting educators, undermining public schools and shortchanging students. They are doing serious harm to the institution of public education, which is far more important to our state’s future than anyone’s political career. And it may take a long time to repair the damage.

Clay Robison

Gov. Greg Abbott obviously believes the horrible historical truth about the Holocaust. Only a few months ago, he signed a new law creating the Texas Holocaust, Genocide and Antisemitism Advisory Commission, charged with producing studies of antisemitism in Texas and working with schools to fight against it. And last year, he delivered remarks in Austin to help commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

But Abbott was silent last week when a school administrator in Carroll ISD, overreacting to the new, so-called “critical race theory” law that Abbott promoted and signed, told teachers to put books with “opposing” views of the Holocaust – books by Holocaust deniers, in other words — in their classroom libraries.

The governor may have been surprised, but he shouldn’t have been. This result, although extreme, is what you can expect when a governor and his legislative allies enact a law deliberately designed to whitewash or soft-pedal the teaching of historical truths that make some people uncomfortable.

The new law was specifically targeted at the teaching of racism, part of a national right-wing crusade trumpeted by Abbott’s hero, Donald Trump, to feed more red meat to an under-informed, mis-informed, fearful and prejudicial political base.

But it is only a matter of steps – or an under-educated generation or two — from deemphasizing racism in our history and culture to forgetting about slavery or denying the Holocaust and the other well-documented Nazi atrocities of World War II. Carroll was just the beginning. There will be other school administrators and teachers (for fear of losing their jobs) who will overreact or misinterpret this law and start shortchanging their students. It is inevitable, and many of those incidents will go unnoticed.

Regardless of personal politics, the governor of Texas is supposed to be a moral leader for all his constituents, and Abbott, by neglecting to issue a strong public repudiation of the Carroll administrator’s reaction to his bad law, missed an opportunity to fulfill that responsibility.

But Abbott’s focus right now is not on most of his constituents nor on the quality of public education. It is on his party’s primary, in which he is being challenged for reelection by two right-wing fringe candidates. That primary is drawing closer, and it will attract some voters the governor doesn’t want to offend – such as Holocaust deniers and others who may be wondering what all the fuss was about.

Clay Robison

Many political campaign practices have routinely become mean, but former state Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas, who is challenging Gov. Greg Abbott in next year’s Republican primary, may have stooped to a new low, bordering on cruelty, when he attacked the important, sometimes life-saving services the state has provided LGBTQ youth in foster care.

In response, Abbott practiced his normal brand of political cowardice.

According to a story in the Houston Chronicle (linked below), Huffines in late August took to Twitter to accuse the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services of “promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth.”

Huffines attacked the agency for including a section on its website that included a link to a suicide prevention hotline and other resources “dedicated to helping empower and celebrate” young LGBTQ people.

“These are not Texas values, these are not Republican Party values, but these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values,” Huffines said in a video circulated among his Twitter followers.

Within hours, the webpage was gone, Chronicle reporter Jasper Scherer wrote. And so was the entire website for the Texas Youth Connection, a division of Family and Protective services that helps young people find various resources, such as education and housing. Huffines took credit.

The agency still hasn’t fully explained why the page was taken down, but staff communications obtained by the Chronicle under an open records request indicated it was a reaction to Huffines’ attack.

Abbott, who appoints the agency’s commissioner and nine-member council, has not commented on the incident.

Ricardo Martinez, chief executive of Equality Texas, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said LGBTQ children are disproportionately represented in foster care and “face staggering discrimination and abuse.” He also noted a survey that found that LGBTQ youth who reported having been in foster care were almost three times more likely to also report that they had attempted suicide within the past year, compared to LGBTQ children who had never been in foster care.

“The state is responsible for these kids’ lives, yet it intentionally removed a way for them to find help when they need it most,” he added.

Huffines is a bully, and Abbott can be easily bullied – if he thinks it will help him win reelection. That is not leadership. It is another form of pandering to intolerance, one of Abbott’s specialties.

Meanwhile, some very vulnerable kids are left to suffer.

Prompted by Abbott primary challenger, Texas agency removed webpage with suicide hotline, other resources for LGBTQ youth

Clay Robison