Texas OKs changes to school texts

[Poiuyt]

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Board of Education on Friday adopted new social studies and history guidelines for Texas classrooms that some critics said was an attempt by conservatives to rewrite history.

The board gave the curriculum a more conservative bent by dictating how political events and figures will be taught to some 4.8 million primary and high school students in Texas and beyond for the next decade.

The standards also will be used by textbook publishers who often develop materials for other states based on those approved in Texas.

===

During the monthslong process of creating the guidelines, conservatives have successfully strengthened the requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers and attempted to water down rationale for the separation of church and state.

The standards will refer to the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic," rather than "democratic," and students will be required to study the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.

Conservatives also won the fight to include new direction to world history teachers to emphasize the "benefits" of the free-enterprise system through the ages.

more -

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37271857/ns/us_news-life/

[aquart]

1. Any school board that accepts those books needs to be voted out.

[Dinger]

19. Exactly (nt)

[ThatsMyBarack]

2. just saw this on TV.

Teh stupid! It burnz! :grr:

[Lyric]

3. If West Virginia allows these books, I'm homeschooling my son.

No way in hell I'm going to send him to school just to be subjected to right-wing propaganda. He gets enough of it as it is.

[glinda]

4. these kids will become teachers and spread this crap all over the Country

[Webster Green]

5. We need to put pressure on the textbook publishers.

This is absurd. Why should other states have to accept the garbage that Texas is coming up with?

There are probably quite a few of the dumbass states that will prefer the politicized textbooks,
so publishers really should put out a dumbass version and a regular version of the books.

[marshall]

9. Other states adopt Texas textbooks because they are cheap

Now would be a perfect time to press for the switch to electronic textbooks. It is much simpler and cheaper to tailor textbooks for particular buyers.

And being cheap is, after all, the bottom line.

[Shallah Kali]

10. also put pressure on state lawmakers -'Calif. bill would block Texas textbook changes'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8350194

or direct link to article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/16/state/n100005D86.DTL

[Poiuyt]

6. Who's unrecommending this?

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Not me! I'd rec it a thousand times over, it pisses me off so much!

[Poiuyt]

8. Thanks - it makes me pretty mad too

[DesertRat]

11. Damn these conservatives trying to rewrite history!

:mad:

[charlesg]

12. The Texas Taliban prayer as seen on TV:

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/05/thomas-jeffersons-back-in-the.html

Board member Cynthia Dunbar set the stage for today's meeting with an opening prayer describing America as "a Christian land governed by Christian principles."

"I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses," Dunbar said in her prayer. "I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."

[Soylent Brice]

15. spooky language. SPOOKY LANGUAGE!!

american taliban, hard at work.

[hyphenate]

24. Just another whackadoodle

from the wrong side of the debate. THIS is how they're planning on taking the US away from a large percent of the populace--infiltrating school boards until they hold a majority, and then do whatever they can to make sure their changes are implemented. It's time to declare war against the religious right--they're radical, and they're wrong.

[mdmc]

13. --

[Crystal Clarity]

18. Hi mdmc!

I've seen but never checked out your link till just now. Loved it!

[mdmc]

25. chinacat!

check out dead.net every so often - they put up free music and videos all the time :pals:

[Crystal Clarity]

26. Will do

Thanks! :fistbump:

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[krabigirl]

16. Horrible...so thankful to live in California. I hope other states will be able to get different ones

I feel sorry for parents in Texas. If i was there, I would homeschool.

[Crystal Clarity]

17. My sister told me about this

But I didn't know that the standards they are adopting might affect textbooks in other states until reading the OP. I am SO glad my daughter is grown. I'd be p'od bigtime if she came home from school with a Conservative Christian Texas style revised version of the truth. :grr:

[branders seine]

20. goddamned liars

sacks of bible-thumping, flag-waving shit

[Posteritatis]

21. Hopefully states will ban the things from their classrooms. (nt)

[11 Bravo]

22. Willfully stupid, and proud of it!

[KittyWampus]

23. "some critics"? It's anyone interested in reality. Did these morons deny the Holocaust too?