HISD Bluebonnet Assignment Draws Parent Anger: First-Grade Venn Diagram Compares Sam Houston and Martin Luther King Jr.
HOUSTON, Texas — A first-grade social studies assignment in the Houston Independent School District (HISD), in Harris County, Texas, has drawn strong objections from parents, Courier Texas reported on October 21. Parent Zachary Nunn found a worksheet in his daughter's backpack from Parker Elementary School asking students to use a Venn diagram to compare the 'good citizenship' of Texas historical figure Sam Houston and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Nunn noted that Sam Houston was a slave owner and said the comparison simplifies and glosses over a complicated figure.
The assignment comes from Bluebonnet Learning, a curriculum designed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and approved by the State Board of Education. The HISD board unanimously approved Bluebonnet Learning in June, and it was implemented this school year while HISD is under state takeover. Another parent, Catherine Allen, said the assignment teaches inaccurate information. Parent Marcie Jones said she plans to pull her son out of the district next week and said the district has 'lost 35% of our teachers' — a figure Jones herself gave to reporters, not a district-published statistic. Nunn said the school had promised weekly newsletters detailing lesson plans, but as of mid-October parents had received none, and that his emails to the principal and the school board were dismissed and ignored.
All three parents said they will take their frustrations to the ballot: nine State Board of Education seats are up for grabs, including four in the Houston area, and the gubernatorial race will determine who has the power to approve or reject laws pertaining to public schools. (GSM, based on Courier Texas reporting)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Houston 市中心天际线资料图。图片：David Daniel Turner，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Downtown Houston skyline, file photo. Photo: David Daniel Turner, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
