Texas could become the fifth state in the country to approve a state-level African American Studies course for high school. The State Board of Education on Friday approved the one-credit elective high school course on a preliminary vote, Texas Education Agency reported in a press release.
North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee are the currently the only other states to have a state-approved elective course in African American history, according to the TEA/SBOE release.
The course would become the second ethnic studies course approved by the SBOE. A one-credit elective course in Mexican American Studies was approved in 2018.
The African American Studies course was approved for first reading and filing authorization. It will next move to a formal public comment period, scheduled from March 6 to April 10. The course is then slated to be considered for final approval at SBOE’s April 17 meeting.
The proposed African American Studies course, TEA and SBOE report, is based one created by the Dallas Independent School District and implemented for the first time this school year at 16 Dallas ISD schools
According to TEA, the course will offer a broad overview of the history and culture of African Americans and covers topics such as history, citizenship, culture, economics, science, technology, geography and politics.
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