Texas Education Board to Vote Aug. 31 on Rewritten High School Social Studies Standards

The Texas State Board of Education will vote Aug. 31 on rewritten standards for four high school social studies courses, the last and most contested piece of a curriculum overhaul the board largely settled in June. Written comment on the rule closed June 15, but speakers may still testify as each item comes up.

The board adopted most of the new social studies standards at its June meeting, along with a required reading list, and described the result as a shift to teaching history in chronological order. But Chairman Aaron Kinsey, saying the board had run short of time, moved to postpone four high school courses — United States History, United States Government, World History and World Geography — and the board pulled them from the package rather than adopt them. They return Aug. 31 with changes since April.

Two laws passed in 2025 shape what the standards must contain. One requires the government course to cover how elections work, who represents a student and what it takes to run for office, down to Robert’s Rules of Order. The other requires students in grades four through 12 to learn about communist regimes and ideologies — the Cultural Revolution, the Holodomor, the Cambodian genocide — and to hear firsthand accounts from people who lived under them. Both took effect in June 2025.

The rewrite has drawn organized opposition. The American Historical Association, whose reviewers read the drafts, told the board in a formal comment that the standards “will not provide an effective foundation” for history teaching in Texas, and has asked the public to write board members and file comments of their own. Kinsey has defended the work, saying students “will finally get the full story” and that tracing events in sequence is how historians work. Democratic members have called the process rushed. Kinsey has rejected that, while acknowledging the board made mistakes pushing changes through in late-night sessions.

A separate item would adopt standards for a new half-credit course in applied personal financial literacy, part of a graduation requirement that begins with students who entered ninth grade this year; comment on that rule closed Aug. 24. Watch the vote count. Adoption takes a simple majority, but making the standards effective before the 2027-28 school year takes two-thirds of the board. The committee acts Aug. 31; the full board’s formal vote is set for Sept. 4.

Meeting at a glance

Board members

• Aaron Kinsey — chairman; District 15, Midland; Republican, aviation company executive.
• Pam Little — vice chair; District 12, Fairview; Republican, retired publishing executive.
• Will Hickman — secretary; District 6, Houston; Republican, oil company attorney.
• Gustavo Reveles — District 1, El Paso; Democrat, school district communications director.
• LJ Francis — District 2, Corpus Christi; Republican, engineer and business owner.
• Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz — District 3, San Antonio; Democrat, credit union executive.
• District 4 — vacant; the unexpired term runs to January 2029.
• Rebecca Bell-Metereau — District 5, San Marcos; Democrat, retired Texas State professor.
• Julie Pickren — District 7, Pearland; Republican, business owner and former school trustee.
• Audrey Young — District 8, Trinity; Republican, retired special education administrator.
• Keven Ellis — District 9, Lufkin; Republican, chiropractor and former board chairman.
• Tom Maynard — District 10, Florence; Republican, retired Texas FFA director.
• Brandon Hall — District 11, Aledo; Republican, pastor.
• Tiffany Clark — District 13, DeSoto; Democrat, former school counselor.
• Evelyn Brooks — District 14, Frisco; Republican, former teacher.

Roster from the board’s members page, which carries an August 20, 2026 update, and the District 4 page, updated August 19, 2026. Chairman Kinsey’s status was cross-checked against the governor’s April 2, 2026 reappointment release. Meeting contact: Cristina De La Fuente-Valadez, Texas Education Agency, (512) 475-1497.