Requirements for Texas Schools

Requirements for Texas Schools 2024

Background:

SB 1828 was passed in 2019 in acknowledgment of the Holocaust’s ongoing significance and the many recent studies that demonstrate a disturbing ignorance of the subject among Americans.

SB 1828 instructs the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission (THGAAC) to develop or approve materials for public schools for a statewide Holocaust Remembrance Week. Counseled by the Commission, the Governor’s Office selected the week of January 27th as the date for Remembrance Week. (International Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27, which is the date that Auschwitz was “liberated” by Allied troops.)

What Is Required:

SB 1828 states that grades K through 12 students in Texas must receive Holocaust instruction during the selected week, that the THGAAC will develop or approve the resources that schools will use, and that each school district will determine which of those resources are appropriate for different student age groups. Implicitly, the legislation also permits each district to determine the appropriate length of instruction during the week. (School districts should also bear in mind that the Holocaust is included in social studies TEKS for certain classes.)

The THGAAC is not tasked with presenting a fixed curriculum that all schools must follow for Holocaust Remembrance Week. Acknowledging that Texas students are best served when educators have choices in the shaping of instruction, the THGAAC leaves it up to individual school districts to select from any of the items listed/linked on this page. The THGAAC has assembled a variety of guidelines for best practices, as well as an array of resource materials that readily align with different subject areas, intelligences, and teaching styles. In several places, the THGAAC has also included age recommendations, which in accordance with the legislation are not requirements.

For Clarification of Requirements or Help in Planning, Please Contact:

THGAAC State Coordinator of Education Dr. J.E. Wolfson at j.e.wolfson@thgaac.texas.gov or 512.936.2547