Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Nearly three years ago, the state board began writing a new set of curriculum standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. The board appeared to be close to a final draft in January, but board President Don McLeroy said the document was unacceptable and instead offered a 10-year-old curriculum written by Donna Garner, a former educator who is now a professional curriculum writer. (photo courtesy www.spacegrant.nau.edu)

The State Board of Education may be just weeks away from approving a new English and language arts curriculum.

That is, if politics don't get in the way.

Nearly three years ago, the state board began writing a new set of curriculum standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.

The board appeared to be close to a final draft in January, but board President Don McLeroy said the document was unacceptable and instead offered a 10-year-old curriculum written by Donna Garner, a former educator who is now a professional curriculum writer.

The 15-member state board is divided into two factions: an eight-member majority made up of Democrats and moderate Republicans, and seven social conservatives, including McLeroy.

The division, some say, has interfered with the curriculum approval process.

"This is a travesty," said board member Pat Hardy, who represents District 11, which includes parts of Fort Worth. "There are a lot of parents and school boards that if they knew that this was happening, they would be very upset."

McLeroy believes that the state should give teachers more direction about what to teach. The moderate members say classroom teachers should have more flexibility.

The curriculum determines the content of textbooks and what is taught. It also determines what will be tested on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

The English and language arts curriculum hasn't been rewritten since the state's entire curriculum was adopted in 1998, said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Association.

The standards are scheduled to be updated every decade. English and language arts is the first major curriculum revision the board has undertaken.

The state board is scheduled to tackle the science curriculum at the end of the year.

Because some members support teaching creationism over evolution, rewriting the science curriculum could be even more contentious.

New curriculum

At first, the new English and language arts curriculum was being written by committees of educators and TEA staffers. After failing for two years to reach a consensus, the state board hired curriculum consultant StandardsWorks in November for $85,000 to mediate the process.

In January, board members were ready to wrap up the revision when McLeroy said the curriculum written by StandardsWorks didn't include sufficient concrete examples of what students should be learning.

He proposed using the curriculum devised by Garner instead.

The board agreed to a compromise and asked McLeroy to appoint a committee to make recommendations to StandardsWorks.

McLeroy appointed himself and three other members to the committee, which then chose five state and national education researchers to steer StandardsWorks toward a new curriculum.

The experts are meeting today and Friday behind closed doors.

Then, at 2 p.m. Friday, the committee will meet at Southern Methodist University in Dallas to make final comments on the StandardsWorks curriculum. Although the entire state board may attend, public comments will not be heard.

After revisions, the committee is scheduled to sign off on the curriculum Wednesday in Austin.

What does it mean?

The StandardsWorks curriculum, McLeroy and other conservatives say, is not rigorous enough and is too vague, with too much emphasis on how things should be taught and not enough specifics of what should be taught.

Unlike the current curriculum, the one written by Garner includes a reading list emphasizing the classics.

"I want the kids to be exposed to a lot of good literature with a rich vocabulary," McLeroy said. "I want to be able to see our kids graduate from high school and not have to take remedial classes to go to college."

The moderate board members say they want more flexibility in the classroom.

For instance, students should also be introduced to modern writers, board member Mary Helen Berlanga said.

"It tells you exactly what the children are going to read," Berlanga said of McLeroy's preference. "What you see in black and white, that's what you're going to get."

She also said Garner's curriculum, like the current curriculum, doesn't address helping non-English-speaking students and African-American students.

Of the more than 4.6 million students in Texas public schools, "over 2 million children are Hispanic," said Berlanga, of Corpus Christi. "You've got to have somebody there taking care of those children."

Berlanga said politics has begun to interfere with the board's duties and with what's best for children.

McLeroy said that charge is "a smoke screen and a distraction."

"We are a political institution," he said. "When you have a group of people who decide you want to run education and schools with the government, then it's political."

Key dates