AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The often-combative Texas Board of Education would expand its ability to reject textbooks it doesn’t like, rolling back limits that have been in place for more than two decades, under a proposal on the verge of clearing the state Legislature.
Some fear the bill’s benign language would, intentionally or not, return broad influence to a veteran bloc of social conservatives on the 15-member, elected board. That same bloc previously has attempted to de-emphasize lessons on evolution and climate change, and insist that publishers edit classroom materials to better conform to Republican ideology.
How impactful is the textbook market in Texas? Large enough that changes made for the state can affect what’s taught nationwide, though modern, electronic classroom materials have made it easier to tailor lessons to individual states and school districts - thus diluting the board’s national influence some in recent years.
The board’s ability to influence what gets published in textbooks - even sometimes line-editing materials to remove things its members didn’t like - was far greater before 1995. That year, the Texas Legislature passed an omnibus education bill that included limits that allow the board only to reject textbooks with factual errors or material that doesn’t conform to Texas curriculum standards for what is taught to about 5.3 million public-school students.
Texas school districts - more than 1,000 in number - don’t have to use board-approved textbooks, but most do.
Some say a bill already approved by the Texas Senate and scheduled for a state House vote Tuesday would return sweeping influence to the board. The proposal would require that all materials on the Board of Education’s instructional list be “suitable for the subject and grade level” for which it was submitted. That seems relatively tame, but classroom advocates say it is subjective enough to force wholesale textbook rewrites.
“Board members will take this bill as an open invitation to return to the days of almost unrestrained bullying of publishers to change or censor textbook content for purely political reasons,” said Dan Quinn, a spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog group and frequent board critic. “The board will become an even bigger political circus than it has been.”
The proposal’s sponsor, Sen. Kel Seliger, doesn’t see it as a broad expansion of power, however.
“There’s been a lot of weirdness, but as it’s described in the bill, it’s about age and grade appropriateness and things like that,” said Seliger, a Republican from Amarillo. “The culture wars won’t be played out in legislation.”
But Seliger also acknowledged that the proposed changes could have unintended consequences. “Absolutely there will be factions that try to stretch and look for things like ideological purity.”
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VOTER ID
Texas Republicans are moving to weaken a voter ID law and send it to Gov. Greg Abbott after a judge twice ruled that the original version deliberately tried to suppress minority voters.
The changes heading toward approval Tuesday by the GOP-controlled House wouldn’t expand the list of IDs that Texas has required since 2011. Gun licenses remain acceptable, but not college IDs.
The new law would let people without an ID cast a ballot if they sign an affidavit.
In April, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos reaffirmed that the original law intentionally discriminated. Democrats now want her to force Texas to get permission before changing election laws.
It would make Texas the first state under federal oversight since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 gutted the Voting Rights Act.
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CRIMES AGAINST POLICE
Texas is moving closer to making offenses against police officers punishable as hate crimes.
The state Senate passed 30-1 on Tuesday a bill to add law enforcement agents to the list of groups targeted by bias or prejudice. Hate crimes against officers would include arson, criminal mischief, graffiti, unlawful restraint, assault and threats.
The proposal would increase penalties for any offenses committed against on-duty officers. It’s designed to create an environment of respect for law enforcement, and to prevent future acts of violence against them - especially following a sniper attack that killed five Dallas police officers last summer.
The bill previously passed the state House. Gov. Greg Abbott has been a vocal supporter.
Still, opponents have argued that hate crimes should apply to individuals’ innate identities, rather than their occupations.
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DRONE RESTRICTIONS
Drone flights could soon face new restrictions in Texas.
The state Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to ban drones over sports arenas and jails.
The measure makes flying a drone intentionally over a stadium or correctional facility punishable by up to six months in jail. Multiple infractions may mean up to a year behind bars.
The regulation is designed to protect the public from weapons that drones could possibly carry and prevent drones from sneaking drugs or contraband to inmates.
But opponents say the federal - not state - government is responsible for with overseeing air space. They worry the bill could stifle the booming drone industry.
The legislation now returns to the House, which previously passed the measure banning all, not only intentional, drone flights over such facilities.
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ON DECK
The House and Senate were both working late into the night on Tuesday, as many of the session’s most hotly debated issues continue to hang into the balance. Final adjournment is now less than six days away.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When the Senate won’t respect us, they need to expect us,” state Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, while complaining Tuesday about the Senate being slow to pass many bills that have already cleared the House. Dutton later asked that the doors to the House be opened so senators could hear the House’s discontent on other side of the Capitol.
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