When Texas students campaigned for a more diverse history course, they got a lesson in politics

Round Rock ISD student Ayaan Moledina, 13, outside of Canyon Vista Middle School on Sept. 14, 2022. In August, Ayaan testified before the State Board of Education for more Asian American inclusion and accurate representation of Muslim Americans in social studies curriculum. (Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune)

At 13, Ayaan Moledina has come to expect the once-a-year mention of his religion when his social studies class focuses on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“It’s all about how these were Islamic terrorists, killing in the name of Allah, but they did not represent the values that I am taught in my mosque every day,” said Ayaan, a Pakistani American student in the Round Rock Independent School District.