TX Board of Education debates new social studies curriculum that could affect textbooks nationwide

[Kadie]

State ed board to vote on social studies standards

Associated Press - March 10, 2010 1:25 PM ET

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The politically shifting State Board of Education has opened discussion of new social studies curriculum standards that could affect the publishing of textbooks nationwide.

The board started their 3-day meeting Wednesday. Testimony began with an address from two state legislators urging that the Christian "heritage on which our nation was founded" be reflected in the standards.

Debate on the standards has been marked by ideological squabbles over religion and attempts to reflect liberal or conservative viewpoints.

Even before the board began to address the social studies, history and economics curriculum, news cameras from national media outlets, activists and protesters filled the small auditorium.

http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=12117232




Diana Gomez, left, and Garrett Mize, along with other University of Texas students, rally before a State Board of Education meeting in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. A group of 40 students marched to the public hearing to ask "the far-right, conservative faction of the state board to not inject their political agenda into the social studies and history curriculum."

[Craftsman]

1. Remember the golden rule

he who has the gold makes the rules. Texas has money.

[Jkid]

2. Putting politics over education...

Who the hell elected the Texas Board of Education?

[Posteritatis]

4. Texans.

One of the worst board members lost his seat by a tiny tiny margin last week, so there's some hope at least.

[tanyev]

6. And I helped!

Yes, it's annoying to have "Republican" stamped on my voter registration card for the next two years, but knowing I helped get rid of McLeroy makes it all worth it.

[Posteritatis]

7. Well played!

That blight-on-knowledge has a reputation in other countries, never mind just Texas; his going down made a lot of us happy.

[EFerrari]

10. Way to go!

:yourock:

[eppur_se_muova]

8. "if you took all the fools out of the Lege, it would not be a representative body any longer"

Probably a similar principle applies to the School Board.

[Warpy]

3. Yeah, tell the kiddies how cruel, bigoted and arrogant the Christians were

from the Puritans to the Spanish Catholic crusaders. Tell them the full story about the church's role in destroying magnificent cultures and enslaving the inhabitants. Tell them about the land grabs and the spread of disease that wiped out something like 90% of the native population within a few years of first contact.

Oh, right, this is Texas. Those people will never want the kids to know what savages the Christian soldiers were. They'll want the kids to think they all had their eyes raised skyward as they taught the ignorant savages a better way to live and those ignorant savages dropped dead and left them this whole hemisphere in gratitude.

It's the duty of every parent with a kid in middle school and high school to go out and buy a copy of http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868 as an antidote to this jingoistic bullshit.

[MadHound]

5. Well it's real simple,

Most social studies teacher I know simply don't use the book when they're handed one that they don't like or that they think is inaccurate. Thus the local school board is simply wasting money by buying these POS Texas approved books.

[EFerrari]

9. I seem to remember reading that the big textbook publishers are BushCo cronies

but I can't remember which ones and I don't want to slander anyone by making a booboo. Iirc, The Nation had an article about it, maybe 2004 or so.