The Texas State Board of Education is moving forward on a proposal to reconfigure the state’s educational standards. The proposal includes teaching high school students that radical Islam was behind the September 11, 2001, terror attack.
The educational material states that students will “identify the significance of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks motivated by radical Islam, including the roles of George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice, the launch of the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the decline of civil liberties due to the PATRIOT Act.”
Students will also separately learn about the “teachings of jihad and how these teachings led to the expansion of Islam and the conquest of Christian lands including Jerusalem, Syria, and Egypt,” and explain the “rise of radical Islam, including Iranian proxies, terrorism, Al Qaeda, September 11, 2001, and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).”
Texas students are also set to incorporate Bible reading within their academics, as the Texas State Board of Education approved a proposal on the matter in June. Students are to read about David and Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Jonah and the Whale, as well as various other Old and New Testament passages.
Secular literature is also included in the updated reading list, such as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Great Expectations.”
Another reconfiguration of Texas curriculum requires educators to teach students about the reality of communism and Western civilization. Under the new framework, described as a “comprehensive” model, as per a January report from the Houston Chronicle, a chronological approach to history will be taught. “The model, favored by conservatives on the board, boosts the proportion of Texas history, and removes standalone world cultures courses,” the report details. “Third grade will now begin with ‘birth of Western civilizations’ and eighth grade will become a Texas history-only capstone course.”
