Issues affecting Texas students still hang in balance

In an effort to raise alarm over attempts to rewrite U.S. history by softening the depiction of slavery practices in public school textbooks, the Austin area chapter of the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) sponsored a symposium, The Miseducation of Texas Youth, on Feb. 28 at ACC Eastview Campus.

The symposium was held to raise awareness and garner support for a pending action against the Texas State Board of Education's (SBOE) May 2010 curriculum changes.

In a joint effort, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and LULAC have filed a petition for compliance review with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

In the petition, the NAACP and LULAC have asked the Office for Civil Rights to pass a resolution or bring litigation against the State of Texas to prevent the implementation of any changes that are "racially or ethnically offensive and/or that are historically inaccurate."

The petition also seeks the correction of discriminatory practices in discipline, funding, and accountability standards as applied to minority students.

Textbook curriculum changes made national headlines last year and were described as racist and divisive by Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP.

At the symposium, Bledsoe encouraged those involved with local organizations to have groups pass resolutions against the proposed curriculum changes and notify the Texas NAACP. The NAACP will then compile and organize the information into a united campaign.

A four member panel of experts discussed and answered questions the SBOE's amended curriculum. Panelist also shared personal experiences as a minority growing up in the Texas educational system and discussed the effects of the proposed curriculum changes at the symposium.

Panelist Mariano Diaz-Miranda, ACC history department chair, stressed that college is the place for the serious study of history because history instruction in lower grades is little more than indoctrination.

Additionally, African-American Culture Center Director Roland Hayes pointed out the need for teachers to have materials with historically accurate representations of minorities.

ACC history professor Andres Tijerina agrees and co-authored Building a Democratic Nation: A History of the United States to 1877, a history textbook used for ACC's History 1301 class in response to the need for historically accurate depictions of the roles played by minorities in the development of the United States.

At the symposium, Tijerina recalled times when he was barred from entering stores in the 1950s because of the prevailing "no Mexicans allowed" policies.

Symposium attendee Anne Roberts, who is studying social work at ACC, said she is concerned about what her children will be taught in school based on the curriculum changes adopted by the SBOE. Roberts has 5-year-old and 13-year-old daughters.

Another attendee, Lesli Sparkman Williams, the coordinator of ACC's Children's Lab School, which offers child care at Eastview Campus to ACC students, staff and faculty, expressed concern about the proposed curriculum changes.

"It's everybody's history. It shouldn't be limited," Williams said.

The full NAACP and LULAC request for review may be viewed at http://www.texasnaacp.org/txnaacp/docs/sboe/Compliance%20Review2b.pdf