Caution among teachers may be biggest effect of law targeting critical race theory | Education

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They established long-standing curriculum guidelines for teaching students from multiple perspectives, and how sources can be analyzed and rated means not much needs to change.

“I share with my fellow teachers that they adhere to the TEKS,” said Pfleging. “We teach the state curriculum, and how can you have trouble teaching the curriculum?”

James Yasko, the American history teacher at Waco High School, agrees. He said that both his American History class and his Advanced Placement American History course have specific ideas and concepts that students will be tested on. While the state sets these for its regular American history classes, its AP class standards are national, set by the College Board. Both have a broad view of history with a view to diversity, he said.

“We are committed to the standards that are given to us,” said Yasko. “Our goal is for the students to pass the test. Whatever the standards, we give them. … The TEKS are really good at integrating the Hispanic and black sides of the story, and the AP curriculum is extremely inclusive. “

Yasko is no stranger to navigating the trickier points of the story. Prior to his eight years as a teacher at Waco High, he worked in museums, first at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, then as the director of education at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home near Nashville, Tennessee.

In its presentation of the life and legacy of the Seventh President, the State Hermitage Museum paid tribute to Jackson’s views on slavery and his efforts to evict Indian tribes from their land.