Ho, Ho – No?: New Curriculum May Remove Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Add Diwali

September 15, 2009

The Texas State Board of Education is currently in the process of revising portions of its social studies curriculum. At present, Texas sixth-graders are required by curriculum guidelines to learn about Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holidays in a world studies course.

A defining document called TEKS, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for grades K-12 within the social studies curriculum contains a proposal that two existing holidays now included in the curriculum be removed and that a new holiday be added.

Under the current curriculum, sixth graders must now be able to explain the significance of two Christian holidays, the Muslim holy month and two Jewish holidays. Those holidays are: Christmas and Easter (Christian), Ramadan (Muslim) and Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah (Jewish).

The new TEA proposal calls for removing both Christmas and Rosh Hashanah holidays from the current curriculum listing of holidays now listed for study by sixth-graders, adding a Hindu holiday, Diwali. It should be noted here that Diwali is also celebrated by some Buddhists.

The TEA committee recommending these changes says that only one key holiday from each of world’s five major religions would henceforth be listed under the revised sixth-grade social studies curriculum if the proposed changes are ultimately adopted. That would mean that students would in the future study and explain the significance of Easter (Christian), Ramadan (Muslim), Yom Kippur (Jewish) and Diwali (Hindu and Buddhism) holidays.

Some critics have argued that these proposed changes constitute a "war on Christmas", while defenders of the curriculum change cite the real need for expanding student’s knowledge of world religions.

Those who do not approve of the proposed changes to the curriculum point out that the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions collectively make up the majority percentage of religious beliefs held by Americans. They also contend that dropping the Christmas and Rosh Hashanah holidays might mislead students as to their importance.

However, the other side of the issue regards the proposed changes as being a valuable lesson in cultural diversity as well as a further realization of the promise of freedom of religion for all.

Since selected other states often adopt some of the curriculum guidelines that are put into place by the state of Texas, some states other than Texas could ultimately also be affected by the proposed changes, even though for the moment, the issue remains squarely centered on Texas and its State Board of Education.

Your informal feedback either in support of or in opposition to these first draft TEA committee recommendations may be filed via email through October 9, 2009 with the Texas State Board of Education. You should address any comments you may have to teks@tea.state.tx.us.

Please be sure to indicate the course or grade level you are responding to in the subject line of your email. In the proposal by the TEA to strike both Christmas and Rosh Hashanah holidays and to add the Diwali holiday as discussed in this article, your subject line should read "Proposed Curriculum - 6th-Grade Social Studies World Religion".