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Texas State Board of Education airs plan to remove Hillary Clinton from social studies curriculum
Hillary Clinton is shown here at OZY Fest 2018 at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park on July 21, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Ozy Media)

Texas State Board of Education airs plan to remove Hillary Clinton from social studies curriculum

The Texas State Board of Education is planning to remove a curriculum requirement to teach high school students about Hillary Clinton’s role as the first woman nominated for president by a major political party, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Under other preliminary approvals, the social studies curriculum would no also longer require students to learn about 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater and Hellen Keller, a disability rights advocate who became the first deaf and blind person to graduate from college.

The proposed removal of Clinton, Goldwater, and Keller sparked little discussion among board members on Friday. Several dozen people who addressed the board earlier in the week also showed virtually no interest in these proposed changes, according to the report.

Under the state's curriculum, elementary or high school students are required to learn about Clinton, Goldwater, and Keller — and others — in lessons on "good citizenship." But committee members recommended the three be removed to save teachers “several minutes of instruction time,” and “remove irrelevant information,” the report stated.

How was she ranked?

Curriculum committees reportedly use a formula to determine the importance of various figures in relationship to the social studies curriculum. Among the areas measured were influence, impact on underrepresented groups and whether the figures represent diverse perspectives, according to the report.

Clinton scored a five on 21 measurements. Goldwater earned zero and Keller had seven, the report explained.

A committee had recommended removing the late evangelist Billy Graham, but reinstated him with direction from the board in June. Graham received four points.

“Keep in mind that whether Clinton and Keller or the Alamo defenders are in the standards specifically doesn’t mean students won’t learn about them,” Dan Quinn of the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network, told the board. “Teachers and textbooks can and will still teach about them. But focusing on disagreements over those details obscures the important problem that the board isn’t even getting the big ideas right because they’re more interested in using the standards to promote their personal and political beliefs.”

The committees were comprised of teachers and other educators nominated by the board. Earlier this year, they were asked to reduce the volume of social studies content given to the state’s 5.4 million public school students.

Concerns have been raised in the past that the board allows both liberal and conservative bias to play into what is taught about historical events such as the Civil War and the founding of the United States, the newspaper reported.

What's next?

The state board is continuing to take public comments on the proposed curriculum changes until November.

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