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After decades of Republican control, the Texas State Board of Education is poised for a Democratic majority, opening the door to significant changes in what millions of public school students learn about history, science and the contributions of minority communities to Texas.
Marisa Pérez-Díaz, a longtime Democratic board member representing San Antonio, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, says the political flip creates an opportunity to reconsider curriculum standards that critics say have minimized the contributions of Mexican Americans, African Americans, Indigenous peoples and other communities to Texas and American history.
"It is a new day for Texas public education policy," Pérez-Díaz said during an interview on Texas Public Radio's "The Source."
Democrats are on track to hold an 8-7 majority on the 15-member board following the Nov. 3 election, although the outcome of a close Houston-area race remains subject to certification and a possible recount.
"But in this new day, it's not about a fight anymore. We're actually going to get to work," she said.
The Texas State Board of Education has been ground zero for the state’s and nation’s culture war. The conservative majority has worked to influence public classroom curriculum with pro-Chrisitan and anti-science messaging, which includes portraying Islam as a violent religion and denying climate change.
Pérez-Díaz, who has served on the board for 13 years, said much of her tenure has been spent pushing back against policies that she believes have weakened academic standards and excluded important perspectives from classroom instruction.
“So much of the work that I've poured into to this point has been a lot of fighting for strong policy, for rigorous standards, for ensuring that there's inclusivity and representation in how we operate,” she said.
With Democrats now poised to take control, Pérez-Díaz says she hopes to move beyond those battles and focus on improving what Texas students learn.
One of her priorities is ensuring that the experiences and contributions of Mexican Americans and other minority populations become part of the required curriculum rather than the subjects that students encounter only in optional classes.
Pérez-Díaz previously helped establish ethnic studies elective courses because efforts to integrate those histories into regular classroom instruction faced resistance.
"We couldn't find a way as a collective to integrate those contributions in our regular core content, and so we had to go the route of creating elective courses that students, if they had time in their schedules," she said.
She said with the Democratic majority there is an opportunity to change that approach.
"Integrating those historically accurate and inclusive histories is perfect sense, especially for South Texas, where it's so incredibly important for our young people to see their own histories," Pérez-Díaz said.
She argues that culturally relevant education also improves student engagement and academic achievement by making lessons more meaningful to students' lived experiences.
Academic research supports the argument that teaching students history and other subjects that reflect their cultural backgrounds improves educational outcomes. A 2014 study by researchers at the University of Arizona examined Mexican American Studies courses in the Tucson Unified School District.
The study, published in the “American Educational Research Journal,” found that participating students were significantly more likely to pass state standardized tests and graduate from high school.
The findings suggest that including historically underrepresented communities in classroom instruction can have benefits beyond cultural representation, potentially helping schools improve academic achievement and reduce dropout rates.
The change in the SBOE’s majority comes months after the Republican-controlled board approved controversial new social studies standards. Critics contend the revisions downplayed the role of slavery in American history, reduced the contributions related to cultural diversity and portrayed Islam negatively.
Pérez-Díaz said the new majority could revisit those decisions, although changes would require public review, board approval and consideration of the financial impact on school districts.
When asked whether the recently adopted standards were effectively locked in, Pérez-Díaz said that was possible, but it would take time.
“There is a process in place. There are procedural timing issues that we do have to consider as a board, but there are workarounds, she said.
She also wants to reconsider how Texas teaches climate science and other scientific subjects, emphasizing evidence-based instruction that prepares students for emerging careers.
"We absolutely need to review what those science standards look like and ensure that we are preparing our young people in classrooms today," she said.
Another priority is strengthening civics education, including helping students understand voting, democratic institutions, public participation and how to evaluate competing viewpoints.
Pérez-Díaz said those lessons were overshadowed by political disputes during the recent social studies review.
"Civics education is critical for our young people to understand and to engage with, and so we absolutely should be revisiting that," she said.
But she emphasized that the most immediate change should be to the process itself, giving classroom teachers, school administrators and academic specialists a stronger role in writing standards.
"My first order of business as we get into the State Board of Education is truly returning a platform to the practitioners in the classroom," Pérez-Díaz said.
Although Democrats could soon control curriculum decisions, the board will still have to navigate state laws, implementation timelines and competing views about what students should learn.
