Why Mexican-American Studies Is ‘Going To Spread Like Wildfire’ In Texas

*Texas now has the “green light” to adopt Mexican-American studies texts. It could have the effect of opening the flood gates to classes across the state. VL

By Roque Planas, Huffington Post Latino Voices

Texas took a step toward instituting ethnic studies courses in public schools across the state on Wednesday, with the State Board of Education voting 11 to 3 to create instructional materials for such classes.

Activists had pushed since November for the Texas SBOE to create a statewide Mexican-American studies curriculum, arguing that such courses would help boost student achievement and foster cultural awareness in the state’s majority-Hispanic school system.

Instead, the more modest measure approved Wednesday mandates the adoption of textbooks for elective classes on Mexican-American studies, African-American studies, Native-American studies and Asian-American studies. Courses will be developed locally and schools will be able to adopt successful models developed in other districts using the state-approved instructional materials.

The idea won bipartisan support, with conservatives applauding the approach of giving local districts control over which curricula to adopt, while ethnic studies advocates looked forward to taking a greater role in developing the courses than if the state had been charged with the task.

“This is huge,” said Tony Diaz, whose group Librotraficante launched the push to create Mexican-American studies classes for Texas high schools last year. “I’m really proud that this is a Texas thing, we have Republicans and Democrats voting on this together.”

Dozens of activists and educators testified in support of adopting Mexican-American studies at an SBOE hearing on Tuesday, including former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, an Austin Democrat.

“I grew up in Bastrop, Texas,” Barrientos said. “There were three schools when I started in the first grade. There was a school for Anglos, a school for African-Americans and a school for Mexicans — even though our family and so many of us had been here since before there were borders … I think it behooves us all to study all of our history and remember that there are those individuals who have been overlooked, who have contributed to our country so much.”

Educators across the state had endorsed the idea, saying that culturally relevant courses could help improve Hispanic student achievement. Several Texas school districts — including Houston, the state’s largest — have passed resolutions in support of creating a Mexican-American Studies class.

More than half of Texas’ nearly 5 million public school students  …

READ MORE HERE

This article was originally published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.