NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The deadline for public comments on an overhaul of teaching standards for social studies has been extended amid an uproar over a proposal to cut out several Tennessee historical events.
The Social Studies Standards Recommendation Committee voted Wednesday to move the deadline from Oct. 28 to Dec. 15.
Gov. Bill Haslam, fellow Republican state lawmakers and the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators had raised concerns that too many Tennessee events and historical figures would be culled from standards in the interest of streamlining teaching requirements.
Among the items facing cuts in the draft standards are Tennessee milestones in the civil rights movements for women and minorities, major Civil War battles fought in the state, labor strife at East Tennessee coal mines and the Cherokee origins of the state's name.