Last week the Texas State Board of Education discussed the possibility of offering a statewide Mexican-American studies class as part of the statewide curriculum, a decision the board has postponed until this spring.
Of the five million students in Texas schools, 51 percent are Hispanic, leaving some to wonder why efforts of Tejanos that have shaped history, culture and the arts are not a part of curriculum.
"It came up, but according to staff, school districts today can offer a study of Mexican-American studies or a class of Mexican-American studies and they can get social studies credit for it so I don’t know if there’s still the need to develop a course like that," said SBOE member Thomas Ratliff.
Ratliff said school districts wanting to create a class can do so without the SBOE’s approval.
"Rather than waiting for the state to approve TEKS, if schools want to teach that they could partner with a college or a university or a community college and develop their own curriculum," Ratliff said.
SBOE Chairwoman Barbara Cargill said she felt there should be more discussion of creating a Mexican-American studies class, which will be an agenda during the board's April 9 meeting.
