The Texas Education Agency (TEA) directed all public schools to remove every mention of César Chávez, who is accused of sexual abuse, from their lesson plans on Monday.
The communication comes ahead of César Chávez Day on March 31, which many schools celebrate. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement on Wednesday that the state of Texas will not observe the holiday, and he plans to remove the day from state law.
TEA said school systems should follow Abbott’s directive and “cancel or otherwise redirect events and activities tied to” the disgraced civil rights leader. The agency also said Chávez should not appear in any curriculum or lessons.
Currently, Chávez is a required talking point under the Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). However, the Social Studies TEKS have undergone rewriting from the State Board of Education over the past year, and TEA believes the board will end up removing “any student expectations explicitly focused on Chávez.”
“This letter serves as formal notice that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will not consider failure to teach any student expectation focused on Chavez as out of compliance with statutory requirements related to TEKS coverage,” TEA said in its statement.
Austin ISD announced last week that it would close its schools and offices in recognition of Dolores Huerta Day on March 31. Superintendent Matias Segura also said the city’s annual parade in Chávez’s honor, which the district took part in year after year, is canceled.
Allegations of sexual abuse came out against Chávez, known for his work with what’s now called the United Farm Workers of America, last week. The New York Times reported Chávez groomed and sexually abused young girls working within his civil rights movement.
Fellow Latino civil rights leader Dolores Huerta also claimed Chávez assaulted her, leading to two pregnancies Huerta hid from the world. Huerta gave birth to the two children and sent them to live with other families.