Happy 250th! … Texas social studies standards developments … And a whole bunch more to keep track of …
Happy 250th Anniversary, America!
Ain’t it wunnerful? Have a lovely day, with hot dogs, fireworks, and flags. Be grateful to all our forebears who made it possible to enjoy our liberty—and be happy. They fought for us to be free, and they fought for us to pursue happiness. So be happy on the Glorious Fourth of July!
Texas Social Studies Standards: Public Comment
Texas’ State Board of Education has tentatively approved good new K-8 social studies standards—and put off consideration of the high school ones for some weeks or months! Gentle readers of Resolute, you will be reading about Texas’ slow progression to completion for social studies reform for months to come!
Notable Bill
- Arizona: Arizona Prohibit Race- or Ethnicity-Based Preferential Treatment, Public Education Offices, and Disciplinary Policies Amendment (2026)
Notable Publications
- American Enterprise Institute: Robert Maranto, How to Reform Scholarly Journals
- Goldwater Institute: Elizabeth Weiss, The Reburial of the Southwest: Closing Off Native History and Archaeology
- Goldwater Institute: Timothy Minella and Matt Beienburg, Desert Brain Drain Arizona’s Honors Colleges Hijacked by Activist Faculty to Force DEI on Students
- Goldwater Institute: Timothy Minella, Civic Decline Arizona’s Public Universities Smuggle DEI into Required American Civics Courses
- James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal: 50-State Comparison: Standardized Testing Requirements at Public Flagship Universities
- James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal: Blueprint for Reform: Wyoming
- Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty: Will Flander, The FORT Gap: How Inconsistent Teacher Preparation Is Fueling Wisconsin’s Literacy and Educator Crises
Testimony
Would you like to be on a list of people prepared to give testimony in favor of a state bill to reform civics education? If so, please get in touch with me: randall@nas.org. We need people ready to testify in all 50 states—ideally, with some personal tie to the education system, but testimony from any citizen would be good.
Civics Alliance Now Has Twelve State Affiliates
The Civics Alliance is building a network of state affiliates—groups dedicated to removing action civics in their states, whom we will list on our website. We now have twelve affiliates, in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas. If you would like to form such an organization, or suggest an existing organization, please get in touch with David Randall (randall@nas.org).
Monthly American Birthright Zoom Meeting
The Civics Alliance will have its monthly Zoom session devoted to social studies standards reform on Monday, July 20, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Please email randall@nas.org if you would like to join these monthly Zoom meetings.
Social Studies Standards Revision Schedule
2026/Current: Colorado, Maryland, North Dakota, South Carolina; continuing: Arizona, Kentucky, Montana, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
2027: Hawaii, Kansas
2029: Louisiana
2030: Minnesota
2031: Illinois
No Revision Currently Scheduled: California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.
Please email David Randall (randall@nas.org) if you are interested in further information about your state’s social studies revision process, and what you can do to participate.
The Civics Bill Tracker
Civics Alliance supporters may now use the Civics Bill Tracker to track all proposed federal and state legislation related to civics.
Public Action
We encourage Civics Alliance supporters to inform the public and policymakers about the stakes and consequences of action civics bills.
David Randall is the Executive Director of the Civics Alliance and the Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars
Photo by Luke Michael on Unsplash
