Forty-six Texas Democratic lawmakers are urging the State Board of Education to pause final action on proposed social studies academic standards, but official vote records show the letter’s lead author and 24 other House signers voted for a law that put the board under a July 31, 2026, deadline for part of the revision process.
State Rep. Salman Bhojani (D-District 92) led the June 18, 2026, letter to SBOE Chair Aaron Kinsey and members of the board, raising objections to proposed Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, known as TEKS, and a separate required literary works list.
The letter carried 46 signatures, including 43 state representatives and three state senators, and raised “serious concern regarding the integrity” of the standards process and required reading list, arguing both were moving toward a final vote in June 2026 despite what the lawmakers described as process and content problems.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the SBOE released draft Social Studies TEKS revisions in February after what officials described as record teacher and parent participation, then advanced revised standards on first reading in April ahead of final consideration in June.
Required Standards, Not A Classroom Ban
The dispute centers on what Texas should require every public school student to learn statewide.
TEKS are the official academic standards that determine what Texas public school students must learn at each grade level, The Dallas Express previously reported.
The Texas Education Agency says TEKS are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do, while proposed rule materials state that curriculum and instruction decisions occur at the local district level. That distinction matters because leaving a historical figure or supplemental topic out of the required TEKS does not, by itself, prevent a district from teaching it.
The SBOE must decide whether those supplemental examples belong in the required statewide standards.
Bhojani Letter Cites Muslim Scholars
The Bhojani letter argues that the required statewide standards should include more Islamic historical context and the work of Muslim scholars.
“The revised standards, as drafted, remove documented historical contributions of Muslim scholars to mathematics and astronomy, including figures such as Al-Khwarizmi, whose foundational work gave us algebra and the conceptual basis of modern computing, and Al-Battani, whose astronomical calculations remain embedded in modern trigonometry,” the letter says.
The lawmakers also claimed the proposal frames Islam “almost exclusively through conflict and conquest” and uses the term “Islamic slave trade” while omitting broader context that would allow students to understand Islam as a civilization with documented contributions to human knowledge.
The letter asks the board to pause further votes, hearings, or advancement of the social studies TEKS until the concerns identified in the letter are addressed.
Vote Record Creates Tension
SB24, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature in 2025, requires the SBOE no later than July 31, 2026, to “review and revise, as needed,” social studies TEKS related to instruction on communist regimes and ideologies.
The law directs the board to adopt standards for grades 4 through 12, as appropriate, that develop students’ understanding of communist regimes and ideologies, including communist movements in the United States, historical events and atrocities attributable to communist regimes, collectivist ideologies, and comparisons with the United States’ founding principles of individual rights, merit-based advancement, and free enterprise.
SB24 is not the only measure involved in the proposed social studies TEKS. The SBOE agenda says the proposed new standards would update the social studies TEKS and implement House Bill 27, House Bill 824, and SB24.
The House passed SB24 on May 22, 2025, by a 119-13 vote, with five members present but not voting. The House Journal lists Bhojani as a yes vote.
A comparison of the June 18 letter’s signature pages with House Record Vote 3209 shows Bhojani and 24 other House signers voted yes on SB24.
One of the three Senate signers, state Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), also voted yes when the Senate passed SB24 on March 26, 2025, by a 28-3 vote. State Sen. Molly Cook (D-Houston) and state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin), who also signed the letter, voted no.
The SBOE’s June agenda item lists the proposed social studies TEKS for second reading and final adoption on June 26.
