Dewhurst supports parent group in CSCOPE lawsuit
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst gave his support Monday to a group of parents who have gone to court to block use of a controversial series of lesson plans in a central Texas school district. Dewhurst said parents across the state should speak up if they are troubled by the CSCOPE lesson plans and encourage their local school boards to either fix or replace the lessons before the new school year begins. The group of parents obtained a temporary restraining order last week prohibiting the Llano school district from using CSCOPE until a court hearing is held on the matter.“We need to work as hard as we can to come up with the best possible solution on how to either eliminate CSCOPE and replace it with a different lesson plan, or fix it so it doesn’t have factual errors and bias,” Dewhurst said. He asserted that under a law passed by the Legislature earlier this year, school boards planning to use CSCOPE should have a public hearing to allow citizens to review the lesson plans. “I want to encourage parents to read the lesson plans and tell their school board what they think,” he said. Dewhurst also urged the State Board of Education to identify errors and bias in CSCOPE, and “communicate that to parents and school boards around the state.”
The lieutenant governor said he does not want to interfere with local control of what students are taught. “Our lesson plans have historically been strictly under local control by our schools, our teachers and