Pro-Israel evangelical activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore pressed the Texas State Board of Education on Tuesday to turn away efforts by the Council on American-Islamic Relations to shape the state's social studies standards, cautioning that choices made in Texas could affect textbooks and lessons nationwide.

Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, addressed the board during its review of proposed changes to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS, which set expectations for what public school students must learn.

These standards guide the selection of instructional materials and affect how publishers, school districts, and teachers cover topics such as world history, religion, terrorism, Israel, and the Middle East.

We cannot allow Texas textbooks to be written by Hamas, Cardoza-Moore stated ahead of her testimony, charging that CAIR seeks to influence the teaching of Islam and the Middle East in American schools.

CAIR has confirmed its participation in the Texas standards review. Earlier this year, CAIR-Texas noted that its representatives testified before the board to call for accurate representation of Muslims in world, US, and Texas history courses.

CAIR maintains extensive links to the Muslim Brotherhood and prior terror-financing groups, Cardoza-Moore asserts

In April, the group urged the board to reject draft social studies revisions, claiming the changes singled out Muslims and linked Islam and Muslim figures too closely to terrorism while ignoring Muslim achievements in history and civilization.

CAIR presents itself as a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group and has consistently rejected claims of ties to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any foreign terrorist entity.

Cardoza-Moore, a veteran conservative Christian voice on textbook matters, contended that CAIR's participation should concern parents and education leaders.

CAIR is the US arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist anti-American organization bent on using the political system to destroy it from within, she said. They were named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist fundraising operation in US history in 2007. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in the Holy Land. We cannot allow Texas textbooks to be written by Hamas.

Federal prosecutors named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in documents tied to the Holy Land Foundation case, a major Dallas prosecution concerning support for Hamas. CAIR faced no charges in that matter. The Holy Land Foundation and five leaders were convicted in 2008 of providing material support to Hamas.

The Texas curriculum discussion forms part of a broader political contest over Islam, Christianity, Israel, and minority history in US public schools. The State Board of Education granted preliminary approval to the social studies revisions in April following heated debate on the depiction of Islam, Black history, Hispanic history, Christianity, and terrorism.

Not merely deciding for Texas

Texas officials are now weighing the standards for a second reading and final adoption. The proposal spans elementary, middle school, high school, and additional social studies courses. Public comment ran from May 15 to June 15, and the Texas Education Agency indicated the board would accept registered oral and written input during the June session.

Cardoza-Moore noted that Texas wields influence beyond its borders because it ranks among the largest textbook markets in the country.

Texas is not just making decisions for Texas, she said. What happens in Texas rarely stays in Texas. Because Texas is one of the largest textbook markets in the nation, its curriculum standards often shape educational content adopted by more than twenty other states. The decisions made today could influence what millions of students learn for the next decade.

In prepared remarks, Cardoza-Moore recalled the historic ties between Tennessee and Texas, referencing Tennesseans who fought at the Alamo, including Davy Crockett.

Today, PJTN comes to Austin in that same spirit, not with weapons, but with a commitment to truth, education, and the defense of our shared Judeo-Christian values, she said. The battlefields may have changed, but the stakes remain high.

Cardoza-Moore has served on Tennessee's Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission and has long engaged in state-level textbook debates. She gained national notice in 2012 after challenging content in a Tennessee human geography textbook that she argued appeared to justify the 2001 Hamas suicide bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, where 15 people died.

The dispute over CAIR's role in Texas follows months after Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas authority. CAIR and affiliated legal groups sued Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton shortly afterward, labeling the designation unconstitutional and defamatory. CAIR has continued to state that it functions lawfully as an American civil rights organization.

Cardoza-Moore said the board should prioritize historical accuracy and resist pressure from activist groups.

Students deserve historical accuracy, not political indoctrination, she said. They deserve to learn the truth about America's Judeo-Christian heritage, the role of the Jewish people in our nation's founding, the history of Israel, and the forces that threaten freedom and our Republic.

For Cardoza-Moore, the Texas debate serves as a national test case.

Just as Tennesseans stood with Texas in one of its defining moments, she said, we stand with Texas today as it considers educational standards that will influence classrooms not only across the Lone Star State, but throughout America.