The Texas State Board of Education voted 11-3 to add elective courses to include Special Topics in Social Studies to include Mexican-, African-, Asian-, and Native American Studies. Cortez's measure had bipartisan support. The measure was sponsored by Texas State Board of Education member Ruben Cortez Jr.

“As a kid in Brownsville, Texas, Ruben Cortez Jr. had limited exposure to Latino history. 'In school, we learned a little about Cesar Chavez, as part of a unit on civil rights, it wasn’t much. I went through the Texas school system without knowing much about other Hispanics in our history,” he told NBC News. “Now a member of the Texas State Board of Education, Cortez, 39, has won approval from the board on a measure he sponsored to create an elective course on Mexican-American Studies for Texas public high school students. 'This course didn't exist in my day. And it doesn't exist now. But why not create one, to inspire a new generation of kids?' Cortez said.”

Read the complete story here.