Conservative Ideologue Peddles Textbook That Butchers Mexican-American Heritage To Texas Schools

When the Texas State Board of Education voted two years ago to create instructional materials for Mexican-American studies, educators and activists walked away cheering. They had asked the SBOE to create a full Mexican-American studies class, citing research showing that it would help boost performance in the state’s majority-Hispanic public schools.

The Republican-dominated board declined, but at least a board-sanctioned textbook would help schools individually join a national wave of schools teaching the classes independently -- a movement spurred by Arizona Republicans’ banning of a controversial but effective Mexican-American studies curriculum in 2010.