Texas may vote to have experts check school textbooks for errors after slaves called 'workers'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas may vote this week on having outside experts check textbooks used in its public school classrooms for factual errors.
Though small, the change could soften longstanding ideological battles over how history, science and religion are taught in America's second-largest state.
The proposed tweak to Board of Education rules follows a Houston mother complaining last month that a geography book used by her 15-year-old high school freshman son referred to slave as "workers."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The board approves textbooks for use by Texas' more than 5 million students. That market is so large that publishers making modifications to meet the state's standards can affect what's prepared for other states.
The board begins meeting Wednesday, when Republican board member Thomas Ratliff says he'll propose having university academics check board-sanctioned books to avoid mistakes.