With the onset of the Texas Legislature’s fourth special session called by Governor Greg Abbott, public education has secured itself at the forefront of Texas politics in recent months. While Abbott’s pet project to implement school choice legislation — one of his top priorities as governor — continues to be a failson of his administration, another bureaucratic body has been stirring more trouble in schools across Texas: the Texas Board of Education.
According to KXAN, members of the Conservative-majority State Board of Education voted along party lines to withhold approval from science textbooks over their depictions of climate change.
Board members criticized the books’ depictions of the negative effects of climate change and the characterization of fossil fuels as a contributing factor to climate change. Board members also expressed concern over how this characterization of fossil fuels would affect Texas’ GDP, namely the negative effects that it would have on the state’s oil and gas industries.
Board member Julie Pricken (R-Pearland) also stated, “The [books] should include information about the harms of Chinese lithium mines, which are part of the supply chain for electric vehicles, to balance out the information highlighting fossil fuels’ effect on global warming.”
With Texas public schools being underfunded via school voucher legislation and the system blatantly disregarding scientific fact by attempting to persuade Conservative thought, Texas is failing to maintain a competent and enriching education system.
The blatant weaponization of this body by Conservative politicians only acts to harm the students it represents. Using the power over Texas schoolchildren that this process provides to push a harmful political agenda, that is not based in fact, to maintain the profits of Texas oil and gas companies is asinine and disgraceful. Texas students deserve better.
