America turns 250 this week. There will be parades, fireworks, speeches, and celebrations from El Paso to Beaumont. It will be a moment of national reflection unlike any in our lifetime.
But amid the celebration, we should ask a simple question: Do our students understand the history, principles, and sacrifices that made 250 years of American freedom possible?
As Texans, we believe that question matters. That is why our State Board of Education has spent several years undertaking the most significant revision of our social studies standards in more than a decade. Over that time, teachers played a larger role in developing these standards than in the previous four revision cycles combined. This week, that effort culminated in the Board’s final approval of the new K-8 social studies standards. The work of educating the next generation is never finished, but this marks a major step forward in ensuring Texas students leave our classrooms with a deeper understanding of the history, principles, and responsibilities that sustain a free society.
The timing is not accidental. The state’s curriculum review cycle placed this revision squarely in 2026, the year America commemorates 250 years of the most successful experiment in self-government the world has ever known. I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe in obligations and duty. This was the mission we were called to complete: finishing this work for this generation in this historic year.
The new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for social studies trace the arc of civilization from which our republic emerged: the republics of Athens and Rome; the moral framework of the Old and New Testaments; the Magna Carta; the Enlightenment; and ultimately, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution — the enduring foundations of the American heritage Texans hold dear. Students will understand not just what happened in American history, but why it matters and what tradition of thought and courage made it possible.
Cicero wrote that “to be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” These standards reject that ignorance. They root students not just in American history, but in the civilization that made America possible — so the next generation can carry it forward with open eyes.
To reinforce this content, the Board is pairing the new social studies standards with a comprehensive, first-in-the-nation K-12 Literary List that includes both classic works and biblically-related texts. The Bible has furnished the English language and Western mind with phrases, analogies, and images for centuries. Our legal vocabulary reflects this inheritance: Good Samaritan laws. Covenant agreements. The right of sanctuary. The language of justice and mercy woven through our founding documents. To teach Western civilization without the text that shaped it would be an act of willful ignorance, not neutrality.
George Washington, in his Farewell Address, called religion and morality “indispensable supports” of political prosperity, describing them as essential habits of a self-governing people. John Adams put it plainly: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The Founders did not shy away from this reality. Neither should we.
Today, just 32% of Texas eighth graders meet grade-level proficiency in social studies, and only 16% achieve mastery. That is not simply an educational challenge. It is a civic one.
Texas law directed this board to include the Old and New Testaments, foundational American documents, and instruction in the dangers of communism. We met every one of those requirements.
Ronald Reagan said it best: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
The freedoms we enjoy today were secured by generations of Americans who came before us. I have seen that responsibility firsthand. I flew 120 combat missions as a C-130 pilot in the United States Air Force. Today, as a father of three and Chairman of the State Board of Education, I believe every Texas student should understand how our freedoms were earned and why they must be preserved.
As America marks its 250th year, these standards will help prepare the next generation of Texans not only to celebrate our nation’s history but to carry forward the principles of liberty and self-government that define it.
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Aaron Kinsey is Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education and represents District 15.
