Advocates, parents oppose Bluebonnet curriculum

MERCEDES, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Mercedes Independent School District finalized its adoption of the Bluebonnet Curriculum at a school board meeting in March.

The state generated program is designed to build on the Eureka and Amplify teaching materials.

It's also meant to align more closely with the TEKS and STAAR test standards.

But some public education experts and parents are critical of the program's content.

"It’s a comprehensive curriculum and a rigorous curriculum. But it has religious passages that are there, and that may be an issue," said George McShan, longtime public school advocate and former Harlingen ISD school board member.

Portions of the curriculum, particularly in the subjects of reading and history make repeated references, and center lessons around, religious teaching.

McShan said the coursework doesn't teach religion per se, but some parents may take issue with what they see as "proselytizing."

“You have separation of church and state, perhaps you don’t want your children to be indoctrinated with religion,” McShan said.

Gabriella Gonzalez has two children in the Harlingen school district.

She opposes the adoption of Bluebonnet by the school board there. She said she's been watching the HCISD board closely to see if they'll follow Mercedes' lead.

Gonzalez said that, as a parent, it's her job to provide religious instruction to her children. She said she doesn't want to put that responsibility into the hands of teachers.

“Not all of them are going to have the same faith system that you and your family and your children have. So why would you want them teaching an inaccurate, watered-down version of the religion that you want your children to follow?” Gonzalez said.

She said her objections to Bluebonnet aren't only focused on the religious aspects of the lessons.

She also has objections to history lessons she feels sanitize or misrepresent the civil rights movements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez.

Gonzalez cited a lesson centered around King's famous letter from the Birmingham jail that she felt was misleadingly condensed, making it seem, to her, as if King were denouncing the non-violent protests for which he became famous.

In the case of Chavez, Gonzalez said his early biography and family history were inaccurately reported, teaching that his family voluntarily gave up their farm because of economic hardships.

Gonzalez argued their land was taken due to systemic inequities which, she said, led him to fight for workers' rights.

“To be erasing that kind of struggle and making it seem more palatable to the average person is the wrong way to approach it. We need to understand the mistakes of the past in order to not repeat them in the future,” Gonzalez said.

Harlingen CISD hasn't included a discussion of adopting the Bluebonnet Curriculum to its agenda.

However, the district has said they're continuously reviewing a variety of resources to align with its educational goals.

Gonzalez said she'll be speaking at upcoming school board meetings against the program, even if it's not a posted agenda item.

McShan suggested parents contact the Texas Association of School Boards or the district Superintendent's group, Texas Association of School Administrators, for any questions they may have about the curriculum being taught in their districts.