Controversy over lesson plan on slavery raises concerns in Houston Independent School District –

The already wildly unpopular state takeover of the Houston Independent School District has turn out to be one other source of hate for fogeys after a lesson distributed through HISD’s central curriculum asked students to place themselves in the shoes of Texans wondering how implement his government in 1836 under the Texas Constitutional Convention. The problem was that through the lesson, students had to decide on whether slavery was improper using three multiple-selection answers. After presenting three bullet points containing very short and oversimplified context points, seventh-grade students were asked to come to a decision whether Texas should allow slavery to appease slave-owning Texans, whether Texas should follow Mexico’s lead in banning slavery despite enslaving feelings, or Texas should delay making a selection on this issue for 20 years, thus leaving the system of slavery unchallenged.

The lesson was reported to have drawn the ire of former HISD school board superintendent Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who immediately questioned what message it might send to HISD’s majority black students, saying, “What it means to these black kids is that you’re not worth anything.” she said. “The fact that these children have to see their peers make a decision based on one of these answers is ridiculous.” After being contacted for comment, an HISD spokesperson issued an announcement saying: “This seventh-grade social studies lesson does not meet our standards for curriculum quality. We will immediately stop using it and replace it with a more appropriate lesson to teach students about the 1836 Convention.”

Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson also questioned the district’s takeover policies, resembling banning full-length books from teachers’ lesson plans. Anderson said: “Again, look at the schools where this is happening – black schools and brown schools,” Anderson said. – They have books on the west side. They have books at River Oaks. They have books at Pen Oak. Why does this only occur to black and brown students?” Anderson also called for a halt to the takeover plans, saying the state board must “bind all the garbage Miles throws.” Superintendent Miles, who’s overseeing reform changes implemented by the state of Texas, plans to have a minimum of half of the varsity district using the New Education System by the 2026-2027 school 12 months.

His NES program was marked by parent protests, massive teacher turnover, and student protests, often run by the Houston teachers union, Houston Federation of Teachers. The crux of the union’s dissatisfaction with the NES system is: a radical change in the best way teachers are paid and eliminating libraries and turning them into disciplinary centers. The payment system Miles desires to implement is just like the one he installed in Dallas ISDwhich led to a 22% increase in teacher turnover, in addition to a moderate increase in state education standards and more scandals than positive advantages for teachers, though other districts eventually adopted the Dallas ISD plan.

In addition to the problems surrounding Miles’ creation, the state’s Republican-led Texas Legislature passed a bill in 2021 sponsored by a bunch openly supported by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the 1836 Project, in accordance with Chloe Latham Sikes, deputy director of policy on the Research Association Cross-culturally, the aim of the laws was: limit any discussion of race, gender identity or sexism in Texas classrooms, saying, “It’s not just about what a teacher can or can’t say,” Sikes said. “It’s also how they teach classes, how they design them—how they can address really sensitive issues of race, gender, identity and sexism in their classrooms. “What this all is really about is excluding any recognition of the importance of sex, race, gender, and silencing these conversations that ultimately ultimately hurt students of color and students from the LGBTQ community.”