The Texas board of education has approved tighter rules on who can serve on volunteer panels that scrutinize textbooks.
Tension over the issue has been building for years in the state, where the textbook market is so large that changes can affect the industry nationwide. Critics complained that a few activists with religious or ideological objections had too much power to shape what students learn.
Among the changes approved late last month is a mandate that teachers or professors be given priority for serving on the textbook panels for subjects in their areas of expertise.
