New Standards for TX Textbooks

The Texas State Board of Education has voted on some controversial new standards for its public school history textbooks. The state’s standards are important because Texas is such a large market that most textbook publishers tailor their books to suit its demands, meaning states end up with those standards by default. The education board, made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats, voted to exclude hip-hop from coverage of American music, because of explicit lyrics, though rock and the Beat Generation—known for sex and drugs—are included. The board also voted down a motion to include the eight Hispanics who died at the Alamo alongside James Bowie and Davy Crockett. More pages will be spent on President Ronald Reagan, but no coverage on the late Sen. Ted Kennedy or the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.