Texas Education Action Alert

The State Board of Education will hear final testimony and VOTE on the state-owned Open Education Resource (OER) materials at next week’s meeting.

If you want to partner in support of authentic student academic proficiency, please speak up now.

You may have heard it called Texas Gateway OER, but since the SBOE’s last meeting, where global alignment with UNESCO Open Education Gateway was revealed, the name has been changed to Texas Bluebonnet OER.

Your help is needed to stop this instructional experiment from being adopted by the State Board of Education. Powerful special interests, political power brokers, and education technology companies – who stand to benefit from its adoption – have swayed underinformed conservatives and church pastors into promoting this new program. However, some are seeing the TRUTH!

Some edits to address concerning content have been made. Yet, just adding more Christian content or a story reflecting patriotism and changing a few pictures does not address the systemic faults (e.g., inadequate phonics/reading instruction as well as a globally-aligned equity and diversity agenda from the Amplify base-product) that are riddled throughout the product.

ACT NOW!

Tell them NOT to adopt a curriculum that costs $2.44 Billion and isn’t PROVEN to improve student reading proficiency! Tell them that simply changing the name does not produce a product that actually reflects Texas values. It is irresponsible to adopt curriculum that has no evidence base for success. Let’s not experiment with Texas students—they deserve better. Their future depends on getting sound instruction.

More examples of concerning content can be found in the link here as well as the piloted Amplify STAAR scores for 3rd grade reading.

Please contact the SBOE Members and tell them Open Education Resources are experimental and have no proven record. OER should not be implemented for a vulnerable population of Texas students who only have a few short years to achieve functional literacy.

Don't want to use our tool? Copy the suggested text and email addresses below to send manually:

Email addresses:
Sboesupport@sboe.texas.gov,Melissa.ortega@tea.texas.gov,LJ.Francis@tea.texas.gov,marisa.perez@sboe.texas.gov,Staci.Childs@tea.texas.gov,rebecca.bellmetereau@tea.texas.gov,will.hickman@tea.texas.gov,Julie.Pickren@tea.texas.gov,audrey.young@tea.texas.gov,ellisSBOE@gmail.com,tom@maynardfortexas.com,pat.hardy.1109@gmail.com,pam.little@tea.texas.gov,ebrooks@evelyn4texaseducation.com,aaron.kinsey@tea.texas.gov

Dear SBOE Members,

The twice renamed Bluebonnet OER is still a bait and switch, despite the minor edits that have been made.

It must be rejected, despite political pressure.

Veteran Texas educators—with more than 100 years of teaching experience, combined—agree it is not classical, biblically centered, or developmentally appropriate for our youngest learners. We trust the hundreds of hours they have spent reviewing the incoherent approach to phonics and reading.

The district pilot data demonstrates that the OER is not an evidence-based, effective curriculum that will improve student reading proficiency. In fact, reading scores worsened in 33% of the Amplify pilot districts in Texas.

Reject the OER.

TEXAS EDUCATION ACTION ALERT!

ACT NOW!