A group of Texas educators suggested to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as "involuntary relocation" during second grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider that terminology, the Texas Tribune reported on Thursday.
"The board -- with unanimous consent -- directed the work group to revisit that specific language,” Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education is quoted as saying in a statement.
Slavery is not currently covered in second grade social studies lessons, the statement reportedly went on to say, so the work on changes to the curriculum is "meant to address that deficiency."
According to the report, there are several such groups advising the state education board to reform the curriculum, and in this group of nine educators, one is reportedly a professor at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.
A year after lawmakers approved legislation barring subjects that make students "feel discomfort" from being discussed in Texas schools, the board will take new social studies curriculum into consideration this summer. In November, the board will vote on the final approval of the curriculum, according to the publication.
During the meeting where the change was discussed, Democratic board member Aicha Davis of Dallas and Fort Worth reportedly raised concerns to the board, claiming that the phrase does not provide a "fair representation" of the slave trade.
The working draft was returned to the group for editing when it learned about the terminology used in the planned curriculum, according to the report.
"For K-2, carefully examine the language used to describe events, specifically the term ‘involuntary relocation,’" the state board reportedly wrote in its note to educators.
A copy of Texas Senate Bill 3, a law that regulates how slavery and racial issues are taught in the state, was reportedly sent to the group proposing these adjustments to the second grade curriculum.
According to the legislation, slavery was nothing more than a departure from American principles and cannot be taught as a core component of the founding of the United States.
Irish Immigration & African 'Relocation'
Students were expected to "compare journeys to America, including voluntary Irish immigration and involuntary relocation of African people during colonial times," according to one of the proposed social studies curriculum requirements.
However, many scholars raised concerns that such a substitution of concepts is absolutely unnecessary even for such young children, because historical facts should be taught, with some urging educators to "tell children the truth," as they "can handle it" in talks with the outlet.
A new social studies curriculum is being developed in Texas, a process that is done roughly every ten years to update what students in Texas' 8,866 public schools should be learning, the Texas Tribune noted.
And as both Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick run for reelection in November, they have made parental rights a top concern in public debates. Patrick also promised to work on the adoption of a "Don't Say Gay"-type law in Texas, echoing the effort in Florida to restrict discussions about LGBTQ persons in the classroom.
The state education board has the final say on whether to accept or reject the drafts submitted by numerous groups. On the agency's website, certain drafts of new curricular standards have been posted, but not this one.