In September 2018, it was announced that a work group tasked with advising the State Board of Education on social studies curriculum revisions had proposed that educators refrain from calling defenders of The Alamo as "heroic" The recommendation drew the ire of Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a candidate for re-election in the November 6 general, who urged voters to express opposition to the proposal to their district member on the Texas Board of Education. The recommendation was among several hundred additions, deletions, and tweaks offered by the advisory the panel. The committee said "heroic" is "a value(s)-charged word." Buenger said that he could understand why the word 'heroic' is divisive: "Many times the Alamo gets boiled down, as it often does in movies, to the Mexicans are the bad guys and the good guys are good Anglos in coonskin caps." He noted that at least six Mexicans, calling themselves Texians, fought with the American defenders: "Part of the problem with the word heroic may be that it's too simplistic," Buenger added. After public hearings were conducted, the Board of Education voted to amend the Texas history curriculum to refer "to the heroism of the diverse defenders who gave their lives” at the Alamo.