The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
The State Board of Education is expected to consider changes to the state’s history curriculum standards this week.
And one update that’s caught the eye and ire of top Texas elected officials involves the Alamo. An advisory group seeking to streamline state curriculums suggested removing the description of Alamo defenders as heroic, saying it’s a “value-charged word.“
Here’s how the passage in the 7th grade Texas history curriculum currently reads:
Explain the issues surrounding significant events of the Texas Revolution, including the Battle of Gonzales, William B. Travis’s letter “To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World,” the siege of the Alamo and all the heroic defenders who gave their lives there, the Constitutional Convention of 1836, Fannin’s surrender at Goliad, and the Battle of San Jacinto.
And here’s what the proposed passage sounds like:
Explain the issues surrounding significant events of the Texas Revolution, including the Battle of Gonzales, the siege of the Alamo, the Constitutional Convention of 1836, Fannin’s surrender at Goliad, and the Battle of San Jacinto and Treaties of Velasco.
Both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took to Twitter at the end of last week to criticize the proposed change.
Stop political correctness in our schools. Of course Texas schoolchildren should be taught that Alamo defenders were ‘Heroic’! I fully expect the State Board of Education to agree. Contact your SBOE Member to complain. @TXSBOE #txlege #tcot https://t.co/Ph9oBoBzKF
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 6, 2018
ICYMI, its time to draw a line in the sand on political correctness in our schools. Contact your @TXSBOE member before next Tuesday and tell them the word “heroic” absolutely applies to the defenders of the Alamo. #txlege #tcot https://t.co/u5b06HoGDW
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) September 7, 2018
Each said it was time to stop “political correctness” in Texas schools.
The chair of the Republican National Committee pushed back on controversial remarks about U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and his reelection bid.
Ronna McDaniel appeared on the CBS News program, “Face the Nation” Sunday. She was asked about comments top Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney made at a private meeting both she and Mulvaney attended this weekend. Mulvaney insinuated Cruz could lose his reelection bid because he’s not likable enough. The New York Times obtained a recording of Saturday’s comments. Mulvaney did not mention Cruz by name.
“He was talking to the candidates we had in the room about the importance of being likable – that is important – but we are not going to lose Texas,” McDaniel said.
Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke is challenging Cruz this November. Both O’Rourke and Cruz spent the weekend campaigning.
A Dallas police officer who shot and killed a black man in his own apartment was arrested Sunday and charged with manslaughter. KERA’s Christopher Connelly has more.
Officer Amber Guyger shot and killed 26-year-old Botham Jean in his apartment on Thursday night. The four-year police veteran told investigators that she had entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own. That’s a narrative that lawyers for Jean’s family are questioning.
That it took three days before Guyger was arrested drew criticism. Royce West is a Texas state senator.
“We’ve got to make certain that we’re sure in Texas that there is no separate standard as relates to police officers when they commit these types of crimes, and regular citizens when they commit these types of crimes,” West said.
Lawyers for Botham Jean’s family say they still want answers. Funeral services are planned for Jean later this week.
Jean’s mother, Allison Jean described her son during a vigil, over the weekend.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings addressed Guyger’s arrest Sunday night on Twitter.
My statement on tonight’s arrest of Amber Guyger pic.twitter.com/pIfToTpSsN
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) September 10, 2018
Monday morning, the Dallas Country District Attorney’s Office said a grand jury will ultimately decide which charge or charges Guyger will face.
