Texas State Board of Education adopted high school standards linking Islam to 9/11, jihad, and conquest of Christian lands

On September 4, 2026, the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval to new high school social studies standards, to be phased in beginning the 2030-31 school year, that require students be taught that "radical Islam" motivated the September 11 attacks and study "the teachings of jihad" and its role in the "conquest of Christian lands." The adopted standards frame early Islamic history around the Prophet Muhammad's "brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes" and "the normalization of slavery and the taking of female captives as harem slaves." Andrea Hutchison, a social studies curriculum coordinator for Prosper ISD serving as one of the board's own appointed content advisors, warned in a report that the standard "uses characterizations that don't hold up to close historical scrutiny" and that the language applied to Islam is inconsistent with "the neutral, descriptive standard applied to other religious and cultural traditions covered in the course." UT-Austin philosophy professor Robert Koons, another appointed advisor, separately cautioned that the sourcing behind the claims was "not very reliable." The Republican-majority board approved the language anyway, voting down a motion from member Will Hickman to strike the word "brutal."

The board separately declined to revive a previously deleted standard on Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy. The Council on American-Islamic Relations organized opposition, including a press conference at which Austin high school student Abdelrahman Azami said he had repeatedly been called a "bomber" and accused of celebrating 9/11, despite being born a decade after the attacks. Fifteen-year-old Habiiba Quresh told board members, "I feel attacked, as if my religion doesn't belong." The vote follows the board's June 2026 approval of a mandatory K-12 reading list that includes Bible passages, and comes as a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom awaits U.S. Supreme Court review. The Texas Education Agency, which implements board policy, did not respond to a request for comment ahead of the Labor Day holiday.