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Texas Board of Education Plans to Remove Hillary Clinton From History Curriculum

Hillary Clinton / Getty Images
Hillary Clinton / Getty Images
September 17, 2018

The Texas State Board of Education voted in a preliminary decision on Friday to remove Hillary Clinton from the public school curriculum.

The Board of Education aims to "streamline" social studies curriculum in all public schools, and Clinton didn't make the cut, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Several historical and national figures, including Clinton, Helen Keller and Barry Goldwater, have been suggested for deletion with no uproar from teachers and educators. Removing figures from the curriculum does not prevent educators from teaching about them but instead means they are not mandated to do so.

Clinton has been a required subject taught in the state's public high schools after she became the first woman to win a major political party's presidential nomination.

High schoolers have been required to learn about Clinton, who was the first woman to win a major political party's presidential nomination, in history class. Under a section about citizenship, students were assigned to "evaluate the contributions of significant political and social leaders in the United States" including Clinton, Andrew Carnegie, Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O'Connor.

Removing Clinton from the required curriculum will save teachers an estimated 30 minutes.

Teachers had expressed concern over the number of historical figures students were required to learn, saying it resulted in rote memorization of dates and names instead of real learning.

To determine if a figure made the cut, a work group consisting of 15 members created a rubic to determine what historical figures would make the cut. They asked a series of questions, such as, "Did the person trigger a watershed change?," "Was the person from an underrepresented group?,"  and "Will their impact stand the test of time?"

Out of 20 possible points, Clinton only scored 5. Estee Lauder, Oprah Winfrey, and Laura Ingalls Wilder all scored higher than Clinton on the rubric.

Individuals associated with the decision say politics did not play a part. "Our task was to simplify. ... We tried to make it as objective as possible," said Misty Matthews, a teacher from Round Rock, Texas.

A final vote on the curriculum, which may still be amended, is scheduled for November.

Students are required to learn about current governors, mayors, and presidents, meaning that they will learn about President Donald Trump.

Published under: Hillary Clinton , Texas