The Tennessee Senate Education Committee plans a hearing in October to review the state’s textbook selection process for K-12 schools. Republican Senator Dolores Gresham of Somerville is the committee's chairwoman. She announced this week that the panel will review the role and work of the state's Textbook Commission and Tennessee laws governing textbook selection to help ensure an accurate and unbiased approach. The commission recently came under fire by a group of parents for adopting textbooks containing what they considered to be inappropriate language and a controversial interpretation of historical facts.
The commission has 10 members whose responsibility is to recommend an official list of textbooks for approval by the State Board of Education. Local school systems choose which textbooks to adopt from the list for a six-year period.