Live play-by-play: TX Bd of Ed III: K-5th Teacher Panelists Speak

Each grade level and each high school course nominated one person to speak on behalf of their committee. (One is absent with the flu...) Some would think the Board would not find controversy in Kindergarten and First Grade Social Studies, but those would be people who don't know this Board...

2:35 pm Kindergarten--Ann Rothford: panel tried to use teacher-friendly guidelines that helped. Streamlined and clarified TEKS. "Added Celebrate Freedom Week." Put Veterans Day in instead of Independence Day because former is during the school year. Put Washington and Austin in as fathers of country and state. Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi) wishes she'd mentioned somebody who was there to greet Austin on his arrival. Berlanga gets her to admit that she's not teaching kindergarten now, but 5th grade science. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) points out that they had a committee of 6, and 4 dropped out. This is a sign of how teachers can see that social studies is not considered a priority.

2:48 pm First Grade--Jennifer Mackey: Liberty Bell is an abstract symbol--team proposed Statue of Liberty as more concrete example. Mavis Knight (D-Dallas): What was criteria for individuals? Mackey answers that she couldn't find trade books, websites or anything about Nathan Hale that was age appropriate, and his contribution was too abstract for first grade. Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi): Why did you keep Sam Houston into "including" instead of "such as?" We were trying to establish consistency in foundation people were. Mary Helen doesn't see any diversity in grade 1 (no hispanics)--you could have considered Juan Seguin, given that you have Sam Houston. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) Is Veterans Day on yours and kindergarten together by design? Yes, K is not mandatory, so we did some overlap to be sure all students got it. Pat Hardy says Alexander Graham Bell stole his ideas, so that needs to be put in. Terri Leo (R-The Faction, Spring) worries that emphasis on "global citizenship" is not equivalent to the law requiring patriotism. Terri wants Nathan Hale back--Garrett Morgan is listed (inventor of traffic light and firefighter's hood). Terri says- take back message that this Board wants you to talk about America in a positive light, and so does the Legislature. "I don't want to be having this dialogue about global citizenship at the end of this process." Cynthia Dunbar (R-The Faction, Richmond) What do you mean nothing about Nathan Hale? Is there age-appropriate material for Garrett Morgan? Yes, there are. Nathan Hale is a perfect example of patriotism, Dunbar says. If you think he may need to be taken out, bring back another example that does provide an example of devout patriotism. Mavis Knight (D-Dallas) asks about patriotism vs. global citizenship--are they related? Added "freedom week," even though it is not required by law, and think that Veterans' Day is another good example. Thinks that global citizenship and patriotism can coexist. Terri Leo (R-The Faction, Spring) says that you shouldn't remove things from original TEKS, like patriotism. You can have global citizenship, but not INSTEAD OF patriotism. Barbara Cargill (R-The Faction, The Woodlands) asks about 13A--why did team take out "belief in justice" and "equality" with "fairness" and "respect?" Expert reviewer proposed them as more age-appropriate terms. Cargill really wants them all in. Cargill wants Liberty Bell put back in. Students need to know what it is and what it means. We can have both, she says. Similarly, edit that replaced "family" with "community," is a problem--we can add community, but let's not delete family. Mary Helen Berlanga--no women on required list of historical figures. Terri Leo--did several or just one of expert reviewers ask for "fairness" and "respect"--she thinks those are more subjective and less concrete than "equality" and "justice."

3:23 pm Second Grade--Dawn Fielder; Tried to add clarity and rigor. Only historical figure removed was Florence Nightingale, because she was not an American. We added Women's Air Service Pilots of WW II, and Theodore Roosevelt--he goes with science conservation TEKS. Streamlined geography to insure students find state and country and community. Very excited to keep Thurgood Marshall. Added applying citizenship and public service into requirements. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) glad to see George Washington Carver put back. Gail Lowe (R-The Faction, Lampasas) wants more specificity in "sources about places and regions," which is in standards. (Too vague otherwise.) Wants to say "seven continents and five oceans" explicitly instead of just "continents and oceans" to make intent clear.

3:31 pm Third Grade--Frances Williamson: wanted to make names of those studied reflect class composition, and remove tall tales and myths. Made list of names broad, and made them "optional" (using "such as" language) to be sure that teachers have plenty of leeway. Consensus decision was that myths around Boone and Crockett detracted from actual contributions. Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi) Why is Christopher Columbus not in mandatory ("including" question)? (Oversight). Barbara Cargill (R-The Faction, The Woodlands) wants Daniel Boone back in--didn't see him in 4th grade as they said when they took him out of third grade. Why was Jonas Salk taken out? Polio is now eradicated...we wanted another doctor that cured a more current disease. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) thinks Salks' role in ending a pandemic is actually quite relevant. Gail Lowe (R-The Faction, Lampasas) wants them to clean up "historic" vs. "historical." Also wants more specific knowledge of geography--instead of just "mountains and rivers," and locate them on a map. Barbara Cargill asks about Margaret Knight--invented rotary engine, the spit, the sheep cutters, the dress and shirt-shields, and brown paper bag machine, but she may not be the first one to get a U.S. patent. She was added to bring in a woman. Pat Hardy why is Sandra Cisneros included--her content is not at this grade level is it? Why not use Tomie da Paolo? Panelist is not sure. Bill Martin, Jr. does pre-school books, but he also has done higher-level content.

3:46 Fourth Grade--Tim Ryan: Described some specific changes. Only three people on the committee, so they welcome suggestions. Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi) wants Tejanos from the Alamo and also wants more women, like Adina de Zavala and Clara Driscoll (who prevented the Alamo from being torn down). Barbara Cargill (R-The Faction, The Woodlands) Earlier grades say "historic figures and other individuals" but 4th grades crosses out "historical figures" altogether. He'll put it back in. Why chose Strawberry Festival instead of Texas Independence Day? We wanted to include local ones, especially some from a small town, like Poteet. Ken Mercer (R-The Faction, San Antonio). Think that Kay Bailey Hutchison should be out of historical figures and into current state and national leaders. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) points out that the "such as" for the Strawberry Festival gives teachers option to include their local ones instead. Gail Lowe (R-The Faction, Lampasas) wants geographic items identified on the map. Pat Hardy--is concerned that every textbook has different regions of Texas. She wants publishers to list which regions should be covered. He says they've tried to identify four large regions.

3:57 pm Fifth Grade--Judy Brodigan: Took reviewers' criticism of too many TEKS in fifth grade seriously--cut back from 90+ to 80. Sound foundation for grade 5--restored term "founding fathers." Intended as survey course for U.S. History. Tried to limit TEKS--these are ten-year olds--to most essential concepts. Please remember this is a first draft. We haven't worked on vertical alignment yet. Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi) why John Smith, but no Pocahontas, Lewis and Clark, but no Sacagawea. Brodigan says it would be impossible to teach them without them. They'll be included, even if they're not on the list, but we'll change the list to be certain. Bob Craig (R-Lubbock)--why was Neil Armstrong deleted? He was not a scientist, and didn't fit into that category. They'll consider putting him back in. Rationale for deleting Colin Powell was to add Ronald Reagan, so they took out Colin Powell because Reagan is more recent. (RARE PERSONAL OPINION: THIS SEEMS ODD TO ME.) Ken Mercer (R-The Faction, San Antonio) asks about history of branches of military. Panel took history of military out because of what they added: War of 1812 and French and Indian War. Not as attention-grabbing to cover all five branches of military. Mercer wants to know why "Early Beginnings" in course title got changed to "1500s." They wanted to start with Spanish settlements in St. Augustine and Santa Fe, and not just English Colonial times. "Early Beginnings" to teachers means Native Americans crossing land bridge 40,000 years ago, even though this is taught in fourth grade. David Bradley (R-The Faction, Beaumont) wants to expand on Neil Armstrong--not a scientist or inventor, but the point of TEKS is how science and technology impacted life in the United States. The space program can be covered well for that--it drove much of innovation in recent years. (Transcontinental Railroad is the only technology point...) Barbara Cargill (R-The Faction, The Woodland): Why Columbus Day taken out? We started in 1565--we think it needs to go into a grade level earlier than ours--maybe in grade level where Columbus is taught. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford): must let teachers decide what starts where--teachers keep repeating fun things, like study of Indians. Mary Helen Berlanga suggests that Cesar Chavez be put into the "included" (i.e. mandatory) list instead of the "such as" list (i.e. optional). Mavis Knight (D-Dallas), asks about combinations and deletions. We need this kind of survey course, or they never hear about 2nd half of U.S. History until 11th grade. Gail Lowe (R-The Faction, Lampasas) wants capitals and locations of 50 states. Ken Mercer (R-The Faction, San Antonio) wondered why Coronado is not included? Explorers such as Coronado were covered in 4th grade. 5th grade is about colonization and beyond. Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) wonders if, instead of capitals, learning top ten cities of U.S. would be better. David Bradley (R-Beaumont) knows that rote memorization is not popular, but he thinks memorizing capitals is worth considering.

Gail Lowe did a count of Student Expectations at each grade level: 38 in Kindergarten, 50 in First Grade, 52 Second Grade, 59 Third Grade, 79 Fourth Grade, 81 Fifth Grade.