Friends,
As you can see, several of us were at the Texas state capitol building today focused on the reactionary, anti-Critical Race Theory bill #hb3979.
We hear the bill was "recommitted back to committee," so a procedural error, it sounds like. This will stall the bill and hopefully kill it. You never know, however, so we plan to stay on top of it. Do recall from an earlier post that a similar bill passed recently in Idaho.
Now we have to focus on getting House Bill 1504, Morales' Ethnic Studies Bill, onto the house floor. It came out of the Committee on Public Education with a unanimous vote. Please make calls, reaching out to whoever represent you in the legislature. Go to this website, the "Who Represents Me" link, to find out who represents you in the event that you do not know.
It only takes a minute and can make a world of difference!
Check out this opinion-editorial by Rep. Christina Morales (D-Houston) to learn about her and the bill.
I cannot over-state the value that she accords this bill. She's not only a real champion, but the perfect champion. She honors us so.
And for that, we are equally gratefully honored.
Hasta la victoria!
-Angela Valenzuela
I cannot figure out from the text of the bill, whether it means (1) that each district must offer MAS and AAS, and that the district must permit the course to count toward high school graduation OR (2) that each district must offer MAS and AAS, and that the district may require the course for high school graduation, OR (3) that each district must offer MAS and AAS, and that the district must require one of the courses for high school graduation.
ReplyDelete# 4 Districts must offer MAS and AAS, and may permit either to count toward graduation.
ReplyDeleteMichael, Just seeing this. Sorry. So districts aren't required to teach MAS or AAS, so this applies solely to those districts that teach it. The idea is to simply let these courses count toward high school graduation. Obviously, if these aren't taught in a given school, then no such route becomes available. Since MAS and AAS are currently elective courses by the Texas State Board of Education currently offered in a number of Texas high schools, then they would get this benefit. Many of us hope that this policy will incentivize the teaching of these courses. Now, Rep.Morales has re-filed her Ethnic Studies Bill for the coming legislative session, HB 45 (https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1497068) and so you'll want to follow that. So again, in no instance must these courses get taught, however, inasmuch as they are taught, our hopes is that they can count as a pathway to high school graduation.
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