News, Texas Political Parlor

Political Parlor: Science Materials before the SBOE

July 21, 2011 2:30 pm by: KUT Staff

State-Board-of-Educators-Mtg-By-Daniel-Reese-43

The State Board of Education is holding their summer meetings in Austin this week. At the top of their agenda is the adoption of science materials for middle and high school students. But there are some new members on the board, and a new chair, Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands. The meeting comes weeks after the Texas Legislature passed a bill that gives school districts greater latitude in which materials they can use from the Texas Education Agency's approved list. The main reason is money. Public school support takes a $4 billion hit in the budget biennium that starts in September. So the board isn't recommending a list of books, but rather a list of digital materials to supplement what's already in classrooms. But mixed in with that discussion is the continued tension over biology textbooks that include the concept of intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution. KUT's Ian Crawford and Kate Alexander of the Austin American-Statesman discuss the new look of the SBOE...
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