Ahead of the final vote scheduled for August 31, 2026, CAIR Action and CAIR Texas are holding a press conference to call on the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) to immediately strip hostile and historically inaccurate language from its proposed social studies standards.
WHAT: Joint press conference between CAIR and CAIR Action to call on Texas SBOE to reject biased social studies standards
WHERE: Outside the Barbara Jordan Building, 1601 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78711
WHEN: 11:45 a.m., Monday, August 31, 2026
WHO: CAIR Action, CAIR Texas
LIVESTREAM: @cairaction on Instagram (instagram.com/cairaction)
SPEAKERS:
- Spokesperson, Asian Texans for Justice Fund
- Parent of Muslim students in Texas public schools
- Muslim student, Texas public schools
- More to be announced
Photos, quotes, and videos available on request. For media inquiries, contact Sameeha Rizvi at [email protected] or 832-945-8410.
The grassroots advocacy organizations warn that the curriculum drafts risk institutionalizing and spreading anti-Muslim bigotry and historical inaccuracies in public schools.
The proposed standards by the SBOE include inflammatory amendments that vilify Muslim history and its founder, Muhammad (PBUH), and promote a-historic biases. By pushing such narratives and amendments, the SBOE threatens to create a classroom environment that marginalizes and targets Muslim students and misinforms future generations of Texans.
“Texas classrooms should teach students to think critically about history — not memorize a single, distorted narrative written to demonize a faith practiced by over a billion people worldwide, including hundreds of thousands of Texans. These standards don’t inform students, they indoctrinate them. The SBOE has one job left before this becomes permanent: strip this language out before they vote,” said Sameeha Rizvi, Government Affairs and Legislative Manager, CAIR Action.
CAIR Texas and CAIR Action reject this white-washing of history throughout the proposed curriculum standards. This white-washing includes the erasure of the Nakba — the Catastrophe, the 1948 forced displacement of nearly 800,000 Palestinians during the creation of the modern state of Israel — as well as the failure to fully acknowledge the rich cultural, social, and political contributions of other immigrant and minority communities in Texas. These targeted omissions deny Texas children the opportunity to adequately learn the vibrant and diverse cultural histories of communities that call Texas home.
CAIR Action and CAIR Texas urge the SBOE to reject these amendments and remove them to ensure that the final curriculum reflects objective and historically accurate scholarship and research that represents the history and culture of all people who make up Texas.
SEE: CAIR Action’s toolkit on the proposed amendments
CAIR Action is a 501(c)(4) organization that empowers the American Muslim community through civic engagement, legislative advocacy, and grassroots mobilization to defend civil rights and promote justice for all.
CAIR Texas is the Texas-based chapter of CAIR, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, CAIR Texas does not endorse or oppose candidates for office and makes no claims as to the favorability of one candidate being elected over another.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]