By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
The State Board of Education is reshaping history standards for high school students.
The board reconvened Friday morning, and debate resumed on new standards for teaching social studies and other lessons in Texas. Those standards could affect students nationwide. A tentative board vote is expected on new standards Friday, with a vote on final standards due in March.
For a third day, the board continues wading through amendments, declining to strike the "Red Scare" from a high school history class.
The debate sometimes has been heated as the guidelines will dictate what about 4.8 million K-12 students must learn in social studies, history and economics over the next decade. The guidelines also will be used by textbook publishers who develop material for the nation based on Texas, one of their largest markets.
Traffic signal money going to 15 Texas cities
Drivers in some Texas cities could get from here to there quicker because of $6 million in federal grants to help synchronize traffic lights. The Texas comptroller's office on Friday announced the funding for 15 cities and one county.
Comptroller Susan Combs says the timing of green lights means better traffic flow.
The money will also be used to install light emitting diodes, or LEDs, in traffic signals for a different wattage to cut down on electric usage.
Communities sharing the funds are Bedford, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Allen, Bryan, North Richland Hills, Cedar Hill, Grapevine, Killeen, Beaumont, Missouri City, Frisco, Brownsville, Cedar Park and Waco, plus Montgomery County.
Pentagon finds mistakes by officers over Hasan
An internal investigation into the Fort Hood base massacre has found that several medical officers failed to use "appropriate judgment and standards of officership" when conducting performance reviews of the alleged shooter.
Among the reports findings is that Army Maj. Nidal Hasan's top-level security clearance wasn't properly investigated. Had policies been properly followed, investigators say his clearance may have been revoked "and his continued service and pending deployment would have been subject to increased scrutiny." The study, led by retired Adm. Vern Clark and Togo West, Jr., suggests that the Army review the case to determine who should be held accountable.