State Board of Education member Julie Pickren prays during the invocation before a meeting on social studies standards at the Barbara Jordan Building in Austin on Friday, June 26, 2026. The board is considering revisions that would place greater emphasis on Christian history and biblical content in public school classrooms.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Texas got a step closer to adopting high school social studies standards that tie Islam to violence Tuesday.
The State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to new social studies learning standards, despite hours of testimony from Muslim students, parents and advocates, who urged leaders to reconsider.
Related: Religion takes center stage, as vote to overhaul Texas social studies standards nears
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Almost every mention of Islam in the drafted curriculum connected it to slavery, conquest, or conflict, according to a review by The Dallas Morning News. An effort to include Muslim contributions to math and science previously failed.
One learning standard, in particular, drew scrutiny from the public Monday — and heated debate among members Tuesday. It would require students to study Prophet Muhammad’s “brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves.”
Rebecca Bell-Metereau, D-San Marcos, worried it was a “prejudicial portrayal” of Islam, pointing out that other religions in the curriculum did not similarly invoke sexual violence.
Board members considered changing the standard. Per a proposal, students would, instead, “explain the origins and early spread of Islam,” the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, and the “role of conquest in the growth of the early Islamic empire.”
Andrea Hutchison, an adviser on the curriculum, said this approach would teach the religion in a more “accurate and neutral” way. But Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, opposed the change, saying it’s exactly what a “foreign terrorist organization” would want.
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, has been an outspoken critic of the curriculum, calling it hateful and biased. Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR as a terrorist group last year.
“This is history. We’re not teaching a religion course,” Hall said. “I do not support it.”
The change failed to pass.
By keeping the standard as is, the board greenlit the kind of hostile portrayal that Muslim Texans worry about. Those concerns played out during Monday’s public comment when some speakers called Islam “evil” and warned of a “Shariah takeover.“
“It’s clear that the effect of these standards is to make Muslim students feel inferior and not for Texas students to live in a diverse world,” said Niloufar Hafizi of Emgage, a Muslim American civic organization, on Monday.
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While some learning standards link Islam to violence, others ask students to examine the Bible’s influence on historical events. That falls in line with a contested belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation — and builds upon the mandated Bible-infused reading list passed earlier this summer.
Related: Texas requires Bible readings on literary list, embeds Christianity in public school curriculum
For example, students will have to explain the biblical imagery in Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Another standard recognizes the Bible as an “intellectual influence” on the American Revolution.
And on Tuesday, the board went further, amending a standard to require students to explain how the rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence are “endowed by the Creator.”
Throughout the overhaul, the depiction of minorities has led to tense exchanges. With an already packed curriculum, members have clashed over what history to include — and what to leave out.
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Marisa Perez-Diaz, D-San Antonio, raised concerns that the curriculum failed to cover the full scope of chattel slavery. She questioned why the standards highlight the Quakers’ opposition to slavery — without mentioning the colonial legislatures that codified slavery.
“Slavery is foundational to this country,” she said. “We’re doing a disservice to our students if we’re not spending time on that.”
Julie Pickren, R-Pearland, said the Quakers were “heavily opposed to slavery,” “very, very active,” and “preaching it in the churches.”
The fight over the social studies curriculum will soon reach an end. The board approved learning standards for kindergarten through eighth grade in June.
The final vote on high school courses is expected Friday.
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The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.