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Texas Education Board Approves New High‑School Social Studies Standards on Islam and Christianity

The change ties "radical Islam" to 9/11, recasts early Islam in violent terms, prompts textbook revisions with legal and political challenges expected.

The new standards, set to go into effect during the 2030 school year, will require all Texas high schoolers to learn how the 9/11 attacks were motivated by "radical Islam," and include lessons about the Prophet Muhammad's "brutal" military campaigns.
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Overview

  • The 15-member Texas State Board of Education voted to finalize the high‑school social studies standards on Friday, approving language that links "radical Islam" to the Sept. 11 attacks and frames early Islam in terms of violence, slavery and taking female captives.
  • A last‑minute effort to remove the word "brutal" from a passage describing early Islamic military campaigns failed, and board member Brandon Hall defended keeping the term as necessary to describe historical events.
  • At least three board‑appointed curriculum experts warned the new language does not hold up to historical scrutiny, and Muslim students and advocates testified that the changes single out and disparage Islam.
  • CAIR, CAIR Texas and other civil‑liberties groups pledged to work to overturn the standards and to protect teachers and students who refuse to teach them, signaling likely lawsuits and political campaigns before the rules take effect.
  • The board set a phased rollout beginning in the 2030–31 school year, a timeline that will force publishers to revise Texas‑aligned textbooks and could extend the debate nationally because many publishers follow Texas standards.