The State Board of Education (SBOE) is holding a special called meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Ahead of that meeting, there are two important topics for Texas educators to weigh in on.
HB 1605: Instructional Materials Rubrics
Among its agenda items, the board intends to review and approve the rubrics for the new Instructional Materials Review and Adoption Process (IMRA) required by House Bill 1605. The public comment portal is open through Friday, Dec. 15.
Teachers from K-8 English or Spanish language arts and reading (ELAR/SLAR) and K-12 mathematics should submit feedback on the quality rubrics:
- Visit the Instructional Materials homepage on the Texas Education Agency website.
- In the Announcements section, choose the rubric you want to review.
- Submit comments through the public comment form. If you want more background and guidance as you review, you can follow along with TEA’s recorded webinars linked on the page.
HB 900: Library Collection Development Policy
The SBOE will also consider the collection development policy required by HB 900 and created by the Texas State Library and Archive Commission (TSLAC). Though the SBOE is not required to engage in rulemaking on this policy, it is required to put the TSLAC policy to an up-or-down vote.
We are encouraging you to write to your SBOE member to support the policy adopted by TSLAC. While the policy is imperfect (it has to be in alignment with a terrible bill), it stresses the importance of libraries and librarians to our students’ academic and social development and helps prevent parties outside of the district from attempting to ban books. Our friends at the Children’s Defense Fund created a great resource to provide background and help you craft your comments.
Find your SBOE member and email them before Wednesday’s meeting!