Money and politics play a role in public education curriculum gaining popularity in Texas

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas public school districts can choose to make their own curriculum, buy one, or get paid to use the state-made curriculum.

As Texas lawmakers put more restrictions on what is approved for the classroom, one expert told ABC13 that one curriculum has a clear advantage.

As running a district becomes more expensive across Texas, creating or purchasing a curriculum requires precious dollars. But the state will pay districts upwards of $60 a student to use the state-created Bluebonnet curriculum.

"School districts and schools already feel they are hard-pressed for the financial funding that they need to support their students and support their teachers; any additional funding they can receive, they are going to seek that out," University of Houston curriculum department chair Samuel Brower said.

Brower said what was taught in the classroom used to be left to teachers and school leadership, but that in the last 5 years, a handful of pieces of legislation have passed that control what can and cannot be taught on race and current events and have reshaped curriculum standards.

"Now we are starting to have debates around not only what we should teach, but then who gets to determine what that actually looks like," Brower said.

Alongside the financial incentives, Bluebonnet follows state-mandated standards.

The teaching material has been controversial for its inclusion of Christian religious texts, and it recently issued a correction over more than 4,200 grammatical, spelling, and factual errors.

"That leads folks to question, well, what you are saying is that the curriculum that is right for this school is the same curriculum that needs to be used in this school and different school settings, and that raises a lot of questions because we know different students need different kinds of supports," Brower said.

Brower said Texas is unique because the state used an elected board to approve and create Bluebonnet.

"The way Texas has developed its own curriculum is a unique process because not all states use an elected board that is a politically elected board, which then inherently involves political decision-making processes that voters are going through as they determine who will be on the board," Brower said.

District-made curricula also must meet state guidelines, which are set by the board.

Brower said parents should be engaged in their children's education, and one way to do that is to vote.

"Getting involved in that process, knowing who your representatives are and where they stand on different issues, becomes really important," Brower said.