CA lawmaker proposes bill to keep away TX’s textbooks (which call slavery the ‘Atlantic triangular

[pampango]

trade’).

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/17/california-texas-te... /

Earlier this year, Texas faced national scrutiny for the efforts of a determined bloc of far-right ideologues on the Texas State Board of Education to rewrite history in the state’s social studies textbooks and curriculum. They succeeded in making students learn about the “conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s,” “documents that supported Cold War-era Sen. Joseph McCarthy,” and the difference “between legal and illegal immigration.” Because of the state’s size, Texas has significant pull in shaping what the nation’s social studies books will say. However, California state Sen. Leland Yee (D) has introduced a bill to keep Texas at bay:

Under Yee’s bill, SB1451, the California Board of Education would be required to look out for any of the Texas content as part of its standard practice of reviewing public school textbooks. The board must then report any findings to both the Legislature and the secretary of education.

The bill describes the Texas curriculum changes as “a sharp departure from widely accepted historical teachings” and “a threat to the apolitical nature of public school governance and academic content standards in California.”

A new report in the Guardian reveals that the Texas State Board of Education also “dropped references to the slave trade in favour of calling it the more innocuous ‘Atlantic triangular trade,’ and recasts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as driven by Islamic fundamentalism.” The board will be meeting again this week and conservatives have promised to “keep working to the last moment to correct years of liberal bias in history classes.”

[unhappycamper]

1. Here's a post on the Liberty Institute I put up this morning

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8358073

Their issues page should tell you all you need to know:

http://www.libertylegal.org/issues_main.php

Issues

All across the country, your freedoms are under attack. Sometimes the attacks are obvious, such as the attack on free speech in a possible revival of the Fairness Doctrine, but some are more subtle, like hate crimes legislation which limits free speech while creating an entire new class of crime penalizing thoughts instead of actions.


Liberty Institute looks at these attacks, and works to make sure that your values are upheld and your freedoms preserved. We work in the courts, legislature, media, and culture to combat these attacks head-on. Join us in the fight to protect freedoms and strengthen families.


Click any of the terms on the left to find out more about how your freedoms are under attack and what you can do to stop it.

And the issues are:

2010 Census
ACLU
Battle Over History Heats Up in Texas
Bible Curriculum
Christmas Stays in Social Studies!
Free Speech
Hate Crimes
Limited Government
Marriage
Parental Rights
Pro-Life
Religious Freedom
Science Curriculum
Sex Education
Stem Cell Research


And all of them are 'winners'.

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[ashling]

3. Two things about the "Texas textbooks" (cue eerie music)

1) The days are over of having to go with Texas approved books all over the country because they are the largest purchaser of schoolbooks. Publishers can print different versions on a whim -- and do. I teach a community college class out of a book by Pearson Publishing. Their website has about a brazillion versions of that book. My wife teaches out of the same book - and a different version of that book at another local college, and another one entirely at another local college.
The university where I got my masters used a book for undergraduate history that was run off specifically for that school because one of ou professors liked it and didn't care to change to the new edition.

2) No "legitimate" self respecting publishing company or historian (author) would print or be associated with the Texas changes. Any one that does should be drummed out of the business.

[surrealAmerican]

5. Do they do that for the k-12 public school market?

College textbooks are much more expensive. I doubt public school districts could afford that level of personalization.

[ashling]

8. I'm not saying that they do

but they can - easily. The Internet makes a whole range of things possible... even electronic books. They could bedone for each state or even each school district. It is possible, those of you lucky enough to live in more liberal districts must DEMAND it!

[EFerrari]

7. I hope you're right. Still can't find an article I read in The Nation

that ran down all of the BushCo connections in text book publishing. It was sort of horrible.

[Starry Messenger]

4. Important story.

k & r

[EFerrari]

6. Leland Yee is a terrific Democrat. When he was running for this seat,

we helped with several of his events in San Francisco and, it was amazing because public figures from every lefty group came out for him -- Independents, Greens and Democrats. He's a very talented man, imo.