When did school curriculum get so political?
 

Texas Board of Education  is working on changes to its curriculum standards, which decide what should be taught to students for the next 10 years. This may not seem all that important, but it has serious implications for Texas students, as well as students across the country.
 

Texas is one of the biggest buyers of textbooks in the nation, which means that many publishers will cater their books to the standards set forth by the TBOE. This leads other states to unofficially adopt Texas’ standards. Everyone should be concerned with the Board’s recent actions because they have the potential to reach students across the nation.
 

Recent changes by the conservative majority have added Republican and conservative ideals to the curriculum, with voting divided along partisan and ethnic lines.
 

For example, the changes add a requirement for students to study prominent conservative groups from the 1980s and 1990s. Students will also be expected to learn how private enterprise is restricted by government regulation and taxes and how the Founding Fathers were influenced by Judeo-Christian religions.
 

However the new standards do not discuss liberal or minority rights groups. They also do not discuss the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment, which provides for a separation of church and state.
 

Discussing conservative viewpoints is not a crime—but trouble appears when other viewpoints are left out of the equation. These changes only serve to highlight that which is conservative or Republican. Our country developed from a variety of societies and cultures. We shouldn’t ignore their cultural influences simply because they aren’t the conservative ideal. To ignore these influences is to distort reality.
 

The final vote on curriculum standards will take place in May. Let’s hope the Board changes its mind for the better by adding more diverse viewpoints.