Grapevine Republicans delved into the state of Texas public education on Tuesday and discussed some of the proposed reforms being floated by officials in Austin.
Traditional public schools have been losing enrollment over the last several years, with many parents pulling their kids out to pursue alternatives like charters or homeschooling, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Flagging student achievement outcomes and perceived left-wing bias in curricula have been some of the drivers of the trend.
Political consultant Aaron Harris lamented the state of education in an address to the meeting’s attendees.
“Only 52% of students in grades 3-8 Reading, English I & English II passed the STAAR test. Only 54% of students taking mathematics passed the STAAR test. Teachers are leaving the profession. There are not enough new teachers to replace those leaving the profession,” Harris said.
He went on to explain that there was a law now in effect called HB 1605, which he described as “complex and long” but important. It created an open curriculum available to all Texans and a parent portal where adults can see what their students are learning.
Harris also heralded Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA), a process established by HB 1605 that allows State Board of Education (SBOE) staff, the public, and others to review educational material in a public comment period as it is being developed.
“Following the review of instructional materials, the SBOE will vote to determine which materials to add to a list of approved instructional materials,” the Texas Education Agency website states.
Harris then turned to proposed curriculum materials the SBOE is considering that would deploy the Bible as an educational resource in Texas public schools.
“You cannot understand Western Civilization … if you do not understand the influence the Bible had on everything from the Magna Carta on,” he said to applause from the audience.
Some of the germane areas the Bible would be used in the proposed curriculum, if voluntarily adopted by local school districts, would include using scripture from the Book of Matthew to give context to achievements in Western art such as The Last Supper, he said.
He then laid out various incoming changes to state curricula, which will include phonics, lessons about capitalism and earlier introductions to Shakespeare and C.S. Lewis.
Several members of the audience expressed outrage over HB 1605. When Harris said the law was not a “vendor bill — it’s free,” education activist Lynn Davenport interjected, claiming it cost $50 million.
Harris and Davenport sparred verbally for a moment before Harris tabled their exchange for the Q&A portion of his address.
Mary Lowe, who said she also opposes HB 1605, said the educational company Amplify was on many slides in the parental portal.
Harris pointed out that while Amplify was source material for the course curriculum, it was not in charge of the curriculum. He compared the insinuation to saying, “My PowerPoint is sponsored by Microsoft because I used their software to present it.”
Amplify creates curricula for a variety of school subjects. In 2022, the company became a lightning rod when some New Hampshire parents objected to what they believed was overly sexual educational material, among other concerns.
Davenport also objected to UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) alleged involvement in the production of the curriculum because UNESCO coined the phrase “open education resource.” Harris responded by stressing that just because UNESCO used a phrase in a conference, it does not mean that the group is in charge of the curriculum.
UNESCO has become controversial in recent years because of a public perception that the global organization wants to exercise more influence over American children’s education and because of the organization’s support for equity in education.
Lowe called a series of lessons about kings and queens, which included everyone from storybook characters to King David, “globalist” education that was “age-inappropriate.” Harris claimed that Lowe did not read the lesson, but she denied this.
She then pulled up a text that she said was from a teacher in Midland who claimed there was “anti-American and anti-white” material still in the curriculum.
At one point, Harris accused both women of being members of the American Federation of Teachers and said Lowe was a Democrat.
The Dallas Express asked both women about Harris’ accusations. They denied any affiliation with the teachers union and Lowe denied being a Democrat.
After Harris’ Q&A had ended, Laura Oakley, the woman who organized the meeting, retook the stage. She said that Lowe had previously worked to “elect conservatives.”
