Texas State Board of Education changes name of Mexican-American Studies course

Dozens of speakers fought for a standardized Mexican-American Studies course before the Texas State Board of Education Wednesday. And the vote didn't exactly go as supporters had hoped.

Board member Ruben Cortez from Brownsville explained that a "yes vote" on Wednesday would officially get the ball rolling on a TEKS Mexican-American Studies course -- that stands for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. 

So basically, even though Mexican-American Studies has been offered as an elective in many schools in the past, this vote would give educators across the state a standardized curriculum.

Also a standardized textbook could be developed instead of something full of misinformation. 

After hours of testimony, the board did approve standardizing the Mexican-American Studies course but in a surprise move, the majority of the board wanted to change the name to "Ethnic Studies: an overview of Americans of Mexican descent." 

Something that disturbed supporters and Board Member Cortez. "Fortunately we still have first reading and second reading.  We can come back and re-address that.  I think there's going to be enough concern in the communities [about] the course name...but again those things are just semantics. I think what we've done today is nothing short of historic in the state of Texas," Cortez said.

Cortez points out the final vote is in September and he's hoping to get the name changed back to Mexican-American Studies in the coming months. Also the board approved courses for other ethnic groups today in that same vote which supporters also saw as a win.