How To Fill Out and Submit the SBOE Public Testimony Registration Form

 

The final SBOE hearing is Tuesday, April 18 at 9 a.m. in the William B. Travis Building (1701 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas)

Testimony registration begins Friday, April 14 at 8 a.m. and ends Monday, April 17 at 5 p.m.

Please follow the guide below to fill out the SBOE Public Testimony Registration Form. For talking points and background information, click here.

  1. After downloading the form, fill out the first section with your:
    • Name
    • Address
    • Contact email
    • Telephone number
    • Whether you are testifying as an individual or as a representative of an organization
    • If you are a paid lobbyist, and if so, who it is you are representing

  2. Fill out the second section with the following information about the agenda item, standards in question, and that you will Comment On the proposed revised science standards:
    • Agenda Item to Be Addressed:
      • Agenda Item #1, Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 112, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science, Subchapters A-C.
    • Topic to Be Addressed:
      • Proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 112, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science, Subchapters A-C.
    • Your Position:
      • Comment On

  3. Sign, Date and Submit the form via email to the "Committee of the Full Board":

Suggested Talking Points

  • Respect the recommendations of scientists and teachers who worked on the board’s curriculum review teams.
  • Biology standards should include a robust discussion of evolution that is free from discredited anti-evolution arguments.
  • Science classroom should teach the current scientific consensus, not political agendas.

Background Information

At the State Board of Education hearing in January 2017, educators appointed by the SBOE to revise science curriculum standards made recommendations that included removing anti-evolution buzzwords from Texas’ curriculum standards. In a series of controversial votes, a group of SBOE members added back into standards some problematic concepts and buzzwords commonly used by creationists to call into question the theory of evolution.

The SBOE will meet again April 18-21 to take a vote on the final language of new science standards.

For a quick refresher on the current science debate at the SBOE, click here.

For an in-depth explainer on the history of the evolution wars in Texas, click here.