Texas SBOE delays Native American course approval. What it means for the proposed class

Education advocates who for four years have worked to create a Texas course covering Native American history and culture hope a recent delay in the state approval process won't prevent districts from offering the class this fall.

Those involved in creating the proposed course spoke out Friday before the State Board of Education, the agency that would give it final approval, over worries that delaying the course's adoption could postpone when districts offer the class.

Board members, however, noted that the delay was only procedural and meant to provide more time for ample review of the new class.

The proposed course — Ethnic Studies: American Indian/Native Studies — would walk students through the history and cultural significance of native peoples in Texas. The elective course, which would require parental approval, would be available only to students in grades 10 through 12 at districts that choose to offer it.

Last year, then-Chairman Keven Ellis, R-Lufkin, noted that he expected the course to come before the board for the first of two necessary approvals in January.

Organizers were surprised not to see the course on the agenda for the board’s meetings last week, said Orlando Lara, a co-facilitator of ethnic studies for the Texas Schools Coalition.

The board typically meets for four consecutive days a handful of times each year.

If the class had gotten its first vote last week, course designers would have expected the board to give its final approval in April, Lara said. Approval in April — rather than later this year — would have given districts time to decide on offering the course in the fall.

Now, the earliest the course could get final approval is June, because of the board’s meeting schedule, he said.

“Most districts already have their fall calendar by then,” Lara said.

The purpose of the yearlong course is to fill in gaps in students’ understanding of Native American culture in a typical social studies course, said Stephen Silva-Brave, a member of the Lakota nation and a collaborator in creating the course.

“The fact is that we were here thousands of years before 1492,” Silva-Brave said, referring to the year Italian explorer Christopher Columbus landed in North America. “We're still here today, and we've been here at all points in between. The beauty of a yearlong course is they would get the opportunity to learn about all of those in betweens.”

After course organizers spoke Friday, board Chairman Aaron Kinsey, R-Midland, told them progress on it continues. Any delay was merely to allow more time to fully understand the proposal, such as reviewing a draft of the course itself.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Kinsey as the board's chairman in December, and the meetings last week were Kinsey’s first as the group's leader.

The board members have shown support for the course in previous discussions, member Aicha Davis, D-Dallas, said Friday.

“Even when we had our discussion, not a single person spoke up with any concerns,” said Davis, who has been working closely with the course's designers.

The native studies course has been vetted by teachers, Texas Education Agency reviewers and leaders from various Texas tribes, said Annette Anderson, a member of the Council for the Indigenous Institute of the Americas and a collaborator in creating the course.

Students in the Grand Prairie and Crowley school districts already take the class as part of an innovative course program.

The native studies course would be the third state-approved ethnic studies course in Texas. The state has approved Mexican American Studies and African American Studies classes. The Mexican American Studies courses became available to students in the 2019-20 school year.

While any district can teach an innovative course, most districts wait until the State Board of Education approves the course, Anderson said.

Anderson felt encouraged after giving her testimony Friday, she said.

“It appeared there were going to be more actual discussions,” Anderson said.

Silva-Brave, however, said he won’t feel comfortable until the board takes a vote on the course, which he hopes will come in April.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State Board of Education delays Native American course approval