News & Commentary

By R

By Gislaine Williams
Statewide Advocacy Coordinator

Did you know that all 15 seats on the State Board of Education (SBOE) are up for election this year?

The SBOE is responsible for establishing curriculum standards and reviewing and approving textbooks for Texas public schools. In the past, the SBOE has used this power to push religious and political agendas, ignoring its basic constitutional responsibility to uphold separation between church and state.

You have the power to change that by electing a board that protects the Constitution and puts children before ideology.

Take the first step by learning more about the candidates running in your district. What would be their answers to these questions?

• What role should religion play in setting curriculum standards?
• What standards do you support for the writing & adoption of TEKS?
• Now that we have state-authorized Bible courses, what other religious traditions should be taught?
• How do you balance your personal faith convictions with your role as a public servant?
• What standards do you support for the writing & adoption of TEKS?
• What, if anything, should be done to protect minority faiths in the classrooms?

Find out your district here.

Please note that by playing the clips below YouTube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see YouTube's privacy statement on their website and Google's privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU of Texas' privacy statement, click here.

By O

By O

By D

By K

By K

By F

Read the Summer 2012 ACLU of Texas Newsletter ⇑

Take the quiz to test your knowledge. Then, as you go through the answers, find out what the ACLU of Texas is doing to lower incarceration rates in our great state.

1. The United States has about 5% of the world's population and holds what percentage of the world's prisoners?
a.10%

b.15%

c.25%-That's right. The "land of the free" has the highest incarceration rate in the world.