The Texas State Board of Education takes its final vote Sept. 4 on rewritten standards for four high school social studies courses, after sitting as a committee of all 15 members and advancing them earlier in the week. Public testimony registration for the meeting closed Aug. 28.
The four courses — United States history, United States government, world history and world geography — are what is left of a curriculum overhaul the board otherwise finished in June, when Chairman Aaron Kinsey pulled them from the package for lack of time. Two laws passed in 2025 set the terms. One requires the government course to cover how elections work and who represents a student, down to Robert’s Rules of Order. The other requires students from the fourth grade up to learn about communist regimes and ideologies. The board approved the courses on first reading in April; comment closed June 15, and the agenda says the drafts have changed since.
The world history standards drew the most argument. The Republican majority advanced language attributing the Sept. 11 attacks to radical Islam and describing the spread of early Islam through Muhammad’s military campaigns and the taking of female captives, and turned down an attempt to restore a reference to Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy, the Texas Tribune reported. Andrea Hutchison, a Prosper school district social studies coordinator and one of the board’s appointed content advisers, wrote that the description does not hold up to close historical scrutiny. Member Julie Pickren, a Pearland Republican, said at a news conference the same week that Texas must teach the truth about radical Islamic terrorism and its attacks on America.
Three other rules are up. The board takes a final vote on standards for the half-credit personal finance course the Legislature made a graduation requirement, itself a fight over whether a widely used free curriculum belongs in Texas classrooms. It takes a first vote on adding a transcript line for the state’s new direct college admissions program. And it repeals its rule on what districts pay toward students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf, which the board says lost its statutory footing when lawmakers rewrote special education funding.
The board also confirms whether money may move from the Permanent School Fund to the Available School Fund in fiscal 2027, and sets a proposed range of payout rates for 2028 and 2029 with a preliminary rate inside it. The rate the board set in 2024 sends $1.8 billion a year to schools. No proposed range was public at drafting. Watch whether all four courses clear on the same vote.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 8:45 a.m. CT Friday, September 4, 2026. The notice was filed August 21 at 10:27 a.m. Committees met Monday through Thursday of the same week.
- Where
- Room 2.034, Barbara Jordan Building, 1601 N. Congress Ave., Austin.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas State Board of Education — 15 members elected from single-member districts. The governor names the chair from among them, subject to Senate confirmation. Aaron Kinsey is chairman.
- Format
- General meeting of the full board. Testimony was taken during the committee days; registration closed at 5 p.m. August 28, with late sign-up at the chair’s discretion. Written testimony goes to testimony@sboe.texas.gov.
- Live video
- Streamed and archived on AdminMonitor
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · board agenda packet (PDF)
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.
- Tammie Nielsen — District 4, Pasadena; Republican, appointed August 2026 through December.
- Rebecca Bell-Metereau — District 5, San Marcos; Democrat, retired Texas State professor.
- Julie Pickren — District 7, Pearland; Republican, business owner and former 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 and the September 2026 agenda packet, not from the Texas Education Agency’s leadership page, which still names officers who left the posts years ago. District 4 changed during the drafting window: Staci Childs resigned to run for the Texas House, and the governor appointed Tammie Nielsen on August 26, 2026 to serve through December 31, with voters choosing a permanent successor November 3. 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.