Texas high school students will compare capitalism with socialism and communism while learning to budget, save, invest and build a business plan after the State Board of Education adopted new personal financial literacy standards.
Board members approved the half-credit Applied Personal Financial Literacy standards on September 4, completing more than a year of work on a broader K-12 social studies revision, SBOE Chairman Aaron Kinsey (R-District 15) announced Tuesday.
“One of the vital aspects of our PFL standards is that students understand the financial impact on their economic future under capitalism compared to socialism and communism. There is no better way to teach a lesson than to make it personal, and financial outcomes vary greatly under these different economic models,” Kinsey said in the release.
Financial skills meet economic systems
The board’s posted standards direct students to contrast free enterprise with socialist and communist economic systems. Students will examine how differences in economic freedom and individual decision-making affect private property, freedom of choice, voluntary exchange and wealth building.
Course requirements also cover financial goals, household budgets, consumer choices, credit and debt, insurance, taxes, retirement, saving and investing, and entrepreneurship. Students will develop a business plan applying personal finance concepts such as income projections, budgeting, responsible use of debt, saving, investing and long-term wealth building.
The standards implement HB 27, a 2025 law that replaced the prior half-credit economics requirement with personal financial literacy for covered students. It also requires the SBOE to allow an Advanced Placement course with substantially similar and rigorous content to satisfy the requirement.
Yearlong K-12 revision closes
The September 4 action also finalized U.S. History, U.S. Government, World History and World Geography, completing the social studies revision after the board adopted K-8 standards and a separate required reading list in June.
“These updated social studies TEKS represent Texas’ commitment to rigorous learning, with a central emphasis on the foundations of Western Civilization and the values that shaped America’s and Texas’ founding. Texas students will graduate with a solid understanding of our history, our republican form of government, and our exceptional place in the world,” Kinsey said.
Board materials state that the history standards also implement House Bill 824, which added civics topics, and Senate Bill 24, which requires instruction about communist regimes and ideologies for students in grades 4-12.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the high school standards address Mohammed’s military campaigns and the role of jihad in Islamic expansion, alongside Christianity’s influence on Western civilization and America’s founding.
They also cover communist regimes and compare communism with individual rights, merit-based advancement and free enterprise.
CAIR-Texas and CAIR Action Texas opposed the high school standards, arguing in a joint statement that they mischaracterize Islam and diminish Black and Palestinian history. The groups said they would work to overturn the standards before classroom implementation.
Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas law in November 2025. The governor’s office said the designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from acquiring land in Texas. CAIR rejected Abbott’s allegations and called the proclamation unlawful and defamatory.
Texas districts will begin using the K-8 standards in classrooms in 2030-31 and the four newly adopted high school courses in 2033-34.
Provided by Dallas Express
