DALLAS, Texas — In a final vote of 8-4 with one abstention, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) passed a resolution to formally request that the College Board rewrite its redesigned Advanced Placement US History (APUSH) course and exam “in a transparent manner to accurately reflect U. S. history without a political bias and to respect the sovereignty of Texas over its education curriculum.”
The new APUSH has been criticized by top education experts and policy makers for a left leaning politicized agenda that undermines traditional American and Western cultural values.
One of those experts, retired AP Teacher Larry Krieger who has co-authored articles with Jane Robbins (American Principles Project) in the fight to stop APUSH, testified at the SBOE meeting in Austin on Friday. He told Breitbart Texas that the resolution’s passage is “a tribute to the courage and conviction of the Texas SBOE.”
Following the vote, SBOE chair Barbara Cargill also told Breitbart Texas that she was “very pleased that the resolution passed and continues to send our message to the College Board that although we appreciate the actions the College Board has taken so far, more action needs to be taken and that the controversial wording of the framework needs to be revised.”
Recently, the College Board issued a letter promising changes and the SBOE will continue to work with the College Board; however the resolution sends a strong statement to the College Board as to where Texas stands on the redesigned APUSH.
In the final version of the resolution, the wording added that the “SBOE is not attempting to restrict access to AP courses in Texas public schools.” Resolution author Ken Mercer, who has lead the charge against the radically revamped APUSH, also voiced to College Board representatives Richard Middleton and Debbie Pennington “we want AP” for the many high school students who benefit from the accelerate learning courses that often result in end-of-course exam college credits. Texas represents 10 percent of the College Board’s AP market.
Earlier this week, Breitbart Texas reported that the SBOE passed an amendment to the TEKS requiring that the Texas education Social Studies standards are taught in APUSH classes. In addition to bias, APUSH contradicts the TEK Social Studies and guts sections of American history that are mandated to be taught in Texas public schools.
The vote, which was cast at almost 6:00 pm (CT) on Friday, was the final piece of business for the September SBOE meeting, which then concluded.
Bretbart Texas will have more indepth coverage on the SBOE meeting and the passage of the APUSH resolution.
Follow Merrill Hope on Twitter @OutOfTheBoxMom.
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