Some south Texas teachers are campaigning for the creation of a Mexican American Studies curriculum to be taught in the state’s public schools.
The El Paso Times reports that the school board of the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso voted to urge the Texas State Board of Education to offer Mexican American Studies content in literature and history classes pre-K through twelfth grade.
The movement contrasts with the Arizona law that outlawed ethnic studies courses, including Mexican American Studies.
Leaders from the El Paso Teachers Assocation are also urging other districts to follow suit.
“With the demographic shift and the dropout rate we need to do something that is reflective of our students,” literacy specialist Georgina Perez told the newspaper.
The majority of Texas public school students are now Latino. According to the Texas Education Agency, in 2011-12 about 97 percent of students in the Ysleta school district were Latino.
