The Texas Board of Education has given final approval to significant changes in the state's high school social studies curriculum, a move that has drawn criticism from Muslim groups, students, and some curriculum experts. The revised standards will affect how students are taught about U.S. history, government, and world geography, with particular controversy surrounding new language about Islam and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The board approved language stating that "radical Islam" motivated the 9/11 attacks, a departure from a more focused approach on the specific terrorist groups involved. Additionally, the curriculum will require students to study early Islam, including what the standards describe as Prophet Muhammad's "brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes," as well as the "normalization of slavery" and the taking of female captives for "harem slaves."
The Republican-majority board approved these changes despite opposition from several Democratic board members and public testimony from concerned individuals. Habiiba Quresh, a 15-year-old Muslim student, expressed her feelings to the board, stating, "I feel attacked, as if my religion doesn’t belong. I shouldn't have to defend my religion in the middle of history class because of one sentence someone on this board wrote."
Several curriculum experts appointed by the board also raised concerns. Andrea Hutchison, a social studies curriculum coordinator for Prosper ISD, reportedly stated that the material did not "hold up to close historical scrutiny." Robert Koons, a philosophy professor at UT-Austin, noted that most nonreligious scholars find the sources for these claims "not very reliable" and warned against including material not based on "well-established secular sources."
The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR Action Texas issued a joint statement criticizing the board's decision. They argued that the curriculum "single[s] out and denigrate[s] Islam, minimize[s] the brutal realities of slavery and segregation, and entirely erase[s] Palestinian history." They further stated, "No credible scholar of history validates the bigoted caricatures of Islam this curriculum teaches," adding that the board ignored its own experts' warnings and is teaching "propaganda that teaches them to see each other as threats or erases them from the story altogether."
State Board of Education Chair Aaron Kinsey defended the revised standards, suggesting that opponents had "sensationalize[d] all these topics and [made] them seem more divisive than they actually are." He asserted that board members "worked through, democratically, how to make those choices on behalf of our constituents" and believed they "did an exceptional job overall."
Republican school board member Julie Pickren, who has worked on related legislation for over a decade, called the vote a "huge accomplishment." The newly approved curriculum is slated for implementation in classrooms beginning with the 2030-31 school year.