Texas Board Defers Vote on Social Studies Standard

[struggle4progress]

Source: Associated Press

Published: January 15, 2010
Filed at 3:58 p.m. ET

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas' board of education has put on hold its consideration of new social studies curriculum standards that could affect students nationwide.

... on Friday it deferred the first vote until March ...

On Friday, the board waded through amendments for a third day, declining to strike the ''Red Scare'' from a high school history class and adding a reference to the Venona Papers, research that ''confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government'' ...

The debate sometimes has been heated as the guidelines will dictate what about 4.8 million K-12 students must learn in social studies, history and economics over the next decade. The standards also will be used by textbook publishers who develop material for the nation based on Texas, one of their largest markets ...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/15/us/AP-US-Texas-Schools-Social-Studies.html?_r=1

---

This is a national issue because Texas textbook purchases have a significant impact on the national textbook market, a fact conservatives have used for decades to manipulate national textbook offerings

Texas Board of Education delays vote on social-studies standards
05:23 PM CST on Friday, January 15, 2010
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]
... The board had planned to vote on the standards today. But after two days of debate, members found themselves unable to work through a long list of amendments sponsored primarily by the panel's most conservative members .... several tentative decisions were reached. One would require students to study the history of conservative groups from the 1980s and 1990s -- with no similar requirement for liberal groups. Pushed by board member Don McLeroy, R-College Station, the provision says students should learn about "key organizations and individuals of the conservative resurgence," including Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly ... Among those dropped from the elementary curriculum were former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros; Delores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez; and Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, the first female governor of Texas ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/DN-sboe_15tex.ART.State.Edition2.4be8dcc.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Some earlier DU threads:

The Texas Textbook Tussle
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7392994

Texas debates the way history will be taught
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7464053

[Downwinder]

2. There is one bright spot. If they push the publishers too far into

right field, they will encourage publishing alternate texts on less expensive ebooks.

[struggle4progress]

4. I'm not sure what the real effect of that would be. In Texas, there can be substantial

disparity between the resources of various schools. And electronic media require technology to access

[Downwinder]

5. A good business model would be to supply the readers if the books are

purchased. Similar to pneumatic staplers and nail guns. That way, you would lock the schools into your texts. Of course the competition would come out with their readers and throw yours into the lake. Again like nail guns.

[tbyg52]

3. a) somebody(s) (my one rec didn't undo the negative) unrecced this???

b) good. More time to try to convince them to get their heads out of their @#$'s.

[annabanana]

6. I am a little distressed that this thread was moved to the shores

of the Texas forum.

Apparently the mods don't understand the outsized influence that Texas has on the determination of what textbooks are used nationwide!

[struggle4progress]

8. Looks like the mods heard ya

Thanks :)

[annabanana]

7. Hey TEXAS!!. .Can you rec this up to the greatest? It deserves

a forum-wide visibility. . .

[blondeatlast]

9. Proud to say I sent an e-mail. May sanity prevail. k/r/nt