More Hispanics in new history books?

Posted by Gary Scharrer at August 17, 2009 03:11 PM



More Hispanics in new history books?

You can expect some interesting debate over the coming months as the State Board of Education develops new curriculum standards for social studies/history.

Those new standards will determine what ends up in the history books for Texas public school children to study. New textbooks could arrive as early as the fall of 2013.

One of the issues will hinge on whether to include more Hispanics - and whom - to include in the history books as examples of people who have made significant contributions to American society.

The student enrollment numbers below of select school districts show how Hispanics soon will make up a majority of the state's public school enrollment, now at about 4.7 million children

Hispanic children represented a majority of kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade classes last year and made up nearly 49 percent of the state's total K-8 enrollment. White children make up less than 10 percent of student populations in the major metropolitan school districts.

"Expert reviewers" and "Review Committees" appointed by the 15-member State Board of Education will recommend new social studies curriculum standard. The board will take a final vote next spring.

The push to increase more Hispanic contributions into the history books causes some "review committee" members to worry that traditional historical perspective and traditional American values will be de-emphasized "for the promotion of multiculturalism."

Peter Morrison, for example, believes that late farm workers union leader Cesar Chavez is less relevant for 5th grade history books than such labor leaders as Samuel Gompers or Jimmy Hoffa.

"The only reason to include Chavez is because of his ethnicity, and I object on principle to a primarily ethnic basis for inclusion or exclusion. I believe there is something fundamentally racist with the mindset that our students cannot appreciate the historical contributions," says Morrison, a Lumberton ISD school board member appointed to the 5th Grade social studies review committee.

"To paraphrase Chief Justice John Roberts, if we want to teach our students not to discriminate on the basis of race, then we should start by not discriminating on the basis of race where we include or exclude people in the TEKS just because they have a certain ethnic background," Morrison says.

Ultimately, the State Board of Education will determine the new standards for the textbooks.

One critic is not optimistic.

"Teachers and academic experts generally do a good job deciding which historical figures are important for students to learn about. But the knee-jerk hostility that social conservatives have shown toward including honest coverage of the important contributions of minorities to our nation has been astonishing. By claiming that many are poor role models or are included in textbooks because of their ethnicity instead of their contributions says a lot about the education and politics of the critics themselves," says Kathy Miller, president of Texas Freedom Network, which monitors the State Board of Education.

School District K-8th grade enrollment (2008-09 school year)

HOUSTON ISD

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................84,481.............62.3

White.....................10,529..............7.8

African American.........36,279............26.7

Asian/Pacific Islander.....4,270............. .4

Native American........... 103............. .02


CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD (Harris County)

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................ 26,759.....................38.8

White..................... 25,531......................37.0

African American.........10,622...................15.4

Asian/Pacific Islander.......680 ..................8.6

Native American........... 1181....................... .3


SAN ANTONIO ISD

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................33,186...................89.6

White.....................1,001.................... 2.7

African American.........2,727.................7.4

Asian/Pacific Islander........86................. .2

Native American........... 31................... .1


Northside ISD (Bexar County)

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................39,562.......................64.8

White.....................14,298.......................23.4

African American.........4,776......................7.8

Asian/Pacific Islander.....2,141.......................3.5

Native American........... 231 ........................ .4

DALLAS ISD

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................74,920.....................67.9

White.....................4,865......................4.4

African American.........29,153...................26.4

Asian/Pacific Islander.....1,106.....................1.0

Native American........... 227...................... .2


AUSTIN ISD

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................34,519....................59.8

White.....................14,613...................25.3

African American.........6,451..................11.2

Asian/Pacific Islander.....2,019...................3.5

Native American........... 132..................... .2


EL PASO ISD

Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment
Hispanics................33,343........................81.1

White.....................4,981..........................12.1

African American.........2,066........................5.0

Asian/Pacific Islander..... 568.........................1.4

Native American........... 151.......................... .37


STATEWIDE Texas K-8th grade enrollment (2008-09 school year)
Ethnicity.............total students...........percent of enrollment

Hispanics................1,564,567.............48.6

White.....................1,084,601............33.7

African American.........445,009............13.8

Asian/Pacific Islander.....115,836.............3.6

Native American................11,468............ .3

Source: Texas Education Agency