Education board proposes changes to school curriculum

AUSTIN — Changes to the social studies curriculum for public schools are in the hopper.

The State Board of Education on March 12 voted 10-5 in favor of a set of proposed revisions. The next step is for the proposed revisions to be posted in the Texas Register in mid-April, and then a 30-day public comment period will begin.

One of several points of contention arose over whether to require that students be taught the names of Tejanos, the Texans of Hispanic ancestry, who were among the 189 that fought for independence and died at the Alamo, but are not named in textbooks. The effort to include those names failed.

Comments with suggested changes to the proposed revisions may be sent to rules@tea.state. tx.us . The final steps in the process are for the board to consider additional updates and final adoption at its May meeting.

Also on March 12, the board adopted educator certification requirements and voted to enter into agreements with Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund II L.P. and Invesco Mortgage Recovery Fund. Each entity will be allowed to invest $40 million of the multibillion dollar Permanent School Fund in real estate. The Texas Education Agency said never before has the board entered into a real estate purchase agreement.

Projects to receive federal funds

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples on March 12 congratulated the recipients of tens of millions of federal dollars in broadband funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help bring high-speed Internet service to rural areas.

Projects in Texas to receive funding will improve broadband service in the Texas South Plains region, the Dalhart and Stratford communities in the upper Texas Panhandle and in the Burkburnett and Iowa Park community areas in north central Texas.

The money is part of a $7.2 billion appropriation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directing the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the U.S., increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure and provide long-term economic benefits.

School fund increases in 2009

The fund that guarantees school district bonds and supports the purchase of student textbooks realized a 25 percent return in 2009, the Texas Education Agency reported March 12.