Impact of Conservative Advisors on Texas Social Studies and Notes from Colorado

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The Texas State Board of Education recently announced its list of SBOE-appointed Content Advisors for the 2025 Cycle to review and revise the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in Social Studies. After reviewing the Texas Social Studies advisory list, several Colorado connections came to mind, along with several concerns for our Public School friends in Texas. Here in Colorado, we are familiar with battles over Social Studies Academic Standards.

Link to -> Texas Social Studies Content Advisors

“Before finalizing changes to Texas’ social studies standards next summer, the Republican-dominated State Board of Education will consider input from a conservative Christian activist who views church-state separation as a myth and the Ten Commandments as foundational to American education.” Christian activist David Barton will advise Texas State Board of Education during social studies overhaul

Concern #1 Advisor Jordan Adams

Who is Jordan Adams? What is Vermilion? What is School Boards for Academic Success

  • Jordan Adams is a Hillsdale College Graduate and the former president of the Vermilion education consulting company. Adams is an education consultant with no education degrees and a graduate of Hillsdale College. Adams is currently an education consultant to School Boards for Academic Excellence.
  • Vermilion, founded by Jordan C. Adams in 2022, was a firm that provided services to school boards and districts. It promotes an “ideology-free” approach to education, though its services have been criticized by some as having a conservative political agenda.
  • School Boards for Academic Success  (SBAE) is a non-profit organization that works to improve student academic achievement and restore parental rights in American schools. It provides resources to local school board members and partners with state-based organizations to advance its mission. SBAE has several State partners across the US and is connected to the State Policy Network.

Additional Information about Jordan Adams

Sarasota. FL– In March 2023, former Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, recommended Jordan Adams & Vermilion as a consultancy option for the Sarasota County School Board. The Sarasota School Board voted 3-2 against paying $28,000 for Vermilion Education to examine a range of district policies. Sarasota says no to bringing in a Hillsdale College-linked consultant

Bucks County, PA – In January 2023, during a Pennridge School District Curriculum Policy Committee meeting, school board director Jordan Blomgren conveyed the intention to incorporate, or “overlay,” a portion of the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum into existing course material. Pennridge Pulls Ahead in Bucks County Right-wing School Boards’ Race to the Bottom with Hillsdale’s 1776 Curriculum

Bucks County, PA – In August 2023, many from the Pennridge Community gathered at the Pennridge High School auditorium to learn details about the new curriculum that appeared on the agenda for the school board’s Curriculum Committee meeting. “The new coursework that was largely influenced by Vermilion Education’s Jordan Adams is the result of a months-long and mostly secretive process to develop studies that align with the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum. Remarkably, Adams does not hold the necessary credentials to draft a curriculum in Pennsylvania, yet that is exactly what he did.” Pennridge Parents, Teachers Criticize Vermilion Education’s Push to Require Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum for the District

“Parents in one Bucks County community aren’t holding back on their distaste for the Pennridge School District’s recent moves to retool it’s curriculum to be more in-line with educational tenets espoused by far-right extremist groups. They let the school board know their feelings at a recent meeting.”
Parents push back on Bucks County district’s curriculum plan

Concern #2 Advisor David Randall

Who is David Randall, What is the National Association of Scholars, Civics Alliance & American Birthright Standards

  • Coloradans familiar with education advocacy are aware of David Randall and his efforts to persuade the Colorado Board of Education to adopt the American Birthright Social Studies Standards. Mr. Randall is the Executive Director of the Civics Alliance and Director of Research of the National Association of Scholars. He served as the Project Coordinator for American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards.
  • National Association of Scholars is The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is a politically conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy group that works to reform higher education. The organization advocates for academic freedom, intellectual diversity, and a return to what it describes as “traditional” liberal arts education. NAS lobbies policymakers for legislation aimed at higher education reform, provides congressional testimony, and files “friend-of-the-court” briefs in legal cases to defend its version of academic freedom
  • The Civics Alliance is a coalition founded by the conservative National Association of Scholars (NAS) to reform civics education in the United States. It advocates for a “traditional” civics curriculum based on American history and foundational documents, while opposing “action civics” and other approaches it characterizes as politically partisan. 
  • The alliance has developed its own set of model K–12 social studies standards, called American Birthright, for states to adopt. The standards emphasize Western civilization, American history, and founding principles.

Colorado Social Studies Battles

Denver, CO – October 2022 -David Randall & Civics Alliance attempted to persuade the Colorado Board of Education to adopt the American Birthright Social Studies Standards. The Colorado State Board of Ed voted down the adoption of American Birhright Standards. Conservative American Birthright civics program rejected by Colorado State Board of Ed

Woodland Park, CO – January 2023 – The Woodland Park, Colorado, School Board voted to adopt the American Birthright Social Studies Standards. The Colorado Department of Ed told the Woodland Park School Board that they could adopt American Birthright Standards if the district also taught Financial Literacy and Holocaust Standards. Woodland Park School District adopts conservative American Birthright social studies standards after the state

Garfield Re-2 School District – Oct. 2023 – “In an unexpected move that surprised parents, educators, and community members, the school board in a small Garfield County school district, on Wednesday night, suddenly voted 3-to-1 to adopt the state social studies standards that were backed by a diverse committee of district residents. Community members had been expecting the Garfield County School District RE-2 board to institute the controversial American Birthright social studies standards after this November’s election. However, Board President Tony May pulled the discussion item from the agenda after learning a local committee was going to recommend the board instead adopt the state social studies standards. Pulling the item from the agenda enraged community members who packed the boardroom on Wednesday night. ” Garfield County residents rallied against American Birthright social studies standards in their schools — and won

Concern #3 Advisor David Barton

Who is David Barton? What is the Truth & Liberty Coalition & Transform Colorado

Transform Colorado School Board Election History

For the past few Colorado school board election cycles, the Truth & Liberty Coalition & Transform Colorado have created voter guides for Colorado school board elections in approximately 30 Colorado school districts. Transform Colorado claims that their voter guides are non-partisan; however, Transform Colorado contradicts itself by encouraging voters to vote according to biblical values, which in their view are conservative Christian values.

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