The word “heroic” could disappear from textbooks when talking about defenders of the Alamo.
A group of social studies teachers with the Texas Education Agency are proposing the idea for all middle school curriculum. They say the word “heroic” is “value-charged,” and references to all defenders would take too long to explain.
Since other elements like William Travis’ letter to the people of Texas is already taught in a broad sense, teachers say it’s repetitive to go over it in detail. They say the changes could save at least 180 minutes of class time.
KHOU 11 News spoke with one professor of Texas history who says this is less about what’s going away and more about giving teachers the freedom to offer context where they see it.
“The fact of the matter is, students are already required to understand the motivations behind the Alamo,” said Raul Ramos, University of Houston professor. “So it should be covered and that letter will be included in any discussion of the Alamo."
Governor Greg Abbott wasn’t too happy about the news and tweeted, in part, “of course Texas schoolchildren should be taught the Alamo defenders were heroic.”
A final vote on the curriculum won’t happen until November.