I Hate Texas

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Ok, not really, but-!

I've mentioned I want to teach high school history, right? From here.

(Jan. 19) – "History is written by the victors," Winston Churchill famously said. In Texas, that may mean removing mention of Ted Kennedy and Cesar Chavez from textbooks in favor of new entries on the National Rifle Association and Phyllis Schlafly.

For much of the past year, the Texas State Board of Education has been considering changes to its social studies curriculum, hearing from community members and debating alterations to the way the state will teach history.

Jack Plunkett, AP
"I don't see any evidence that people are pursuing any political or personal agendas," Gail Lowe, the chair of the Texas State Board of Education, told The Daily Texan newspaper.

Many on the board, which is made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats, seem to have concluded that Texas' classrooms have been infected with a liberal bias. As a result, the board has spent numerous hours hearing from members of the community on subjects such as whether labor activist Chavez and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall deserve space in history textbooks alongside founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin.

Also at issue is whether Christianity deserves more classroom time in the Lone Star State, and whether Abraham Lincoln deserves so much.

Last week, the board voted 7-6 to make some changes, so that the state standards will mandate that lessons include the causes and key organizations and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including anti-feminism advocate Schlafly, the Contract with America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.

It wasn't clear which grades would be affected.

In a written statement, the measure's sponsor, board member Don McLeroy, explained why he believes the current textbooks are unacceptable and needed revising.

"These standards are rife with leftist political periods and events: the populists, the progressives, the New Deal and the Great Society," McLeroy wrote. "Including material about the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s provides some political balance to the document."

McLeroy also succeeded in making changes to how Sen. Joseph McCarthy will be taught, painting the man – whose use of Congress to investigate alleged communist behavior in the 1950s has been widely repudiated – in a more favorable light.

The board's preliminary vote has met with some opposition.

"When partisan politicians take a wrecking ball to the work of teachers and scholars, you get a document that looks more like a party platform than a social studies curriculum," Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors public education in the state, told the Houston Chronicle.

The final vote on the new standards will be held in May. There are 4 million children in the Texas public school system, making it the second-largest market for textbooks in the country. As a result, changes to the Texas curriculum are likely to impact other states as well.

I mean, oh yes, let's remove important things that ARE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE in favor of making Texas the most conservative state ever* from the ground up. Also? The article mentions that because of Texas's market size it will effect the rest of the country's text books. So let's hear it for a more conservative America; less Lincoln, more Red Scare! Because who doesn't love a man who used Congress to get back at his enemies and destroy lives? (not to mention basically okaying the KKK)
And more Jesus, too. I swear to god this country does not understand the division between church and state most of the time.

This directly effects me and what I'll be allowed to teach. I had already planned to give plenty of extra credit (what we can teach here in the US is terribly narrow because of standardized testing) but now there's even more reason. Gives my future students more opportunity to learn, really.


_{*I swear to god, this is like the Conservative Bible project all over again. "Hey, let's re-write the book we're supposed to live by! It doesn't say what we want it to--it's too liberal! (What's all this about 'love one another'? Sounds like some damn hippie thing to me and Jesus wasn't a hippie.) And as everyone knows, 'comrade' is a dirty word and we can't have the Lord sayin' that."}

Big ol' dose of truthiness.

[ivor]

Well if they were so conservative you'd think the property tax would be lower...

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Well if they we're so conservative you'd think the property tax would be lower...

Texas had a budget surplus once upon a time.

This was after a distinguished career by a Democratic governor.  Who happened to also be a very smart woman.  (mentioned that to help identify her...)

Then, along comes a Rethuglican.  And in a very short time, not only ran the budget into the dirt, for the first time in Texas history, they were considering state income tax, to try to cover the budget shortfall.

After practicing ruining Texas' economy on a state level, that governor went on to ruin the national economy, using much the same tactics....

I don't think Texas has recovered, still... I know the US has not.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

This:

McLeroy also succeeded in making changes to how Sen. Joseph McCarthy will be taught, painting the man – whose use of Congress to investigate alleged communist behavior in the 1950s has been widely repudiated – in a more favorable light.

reminds me of this:

Statues of Stalin have gone up around Russia. He now has museum in Volgograd, and a revision in school textbooks calls the old dictator a "competent manager" (though it does list his repressions).

Is it me or it's 1930 all over again?

[Sibling Qwertyuiopasd]

Hey, our economy did pretty good during parts of the cold war.

The solution to liberal bias is not to add conservative bias, it's to try and remove bias. I would say add, rather than subtract.

Politicians shouldn't decide on curriculum. That's way too easy to abuse. Furthermore, teachers should make all decisions in lieu of elected officials.

[Griffin NoName]

Politicians shouldn't decide on curriculum. That's way too easy to abuse. Furthermore, teachers should make all decisions in lieu of elected officials.

Well said. Applies here in the UK too. Far too much political interference.

By the way, good to see you. Have a danish on the house Monastery.

[Swatopluk]

Unfortunately there are also lots of RW evangelical teachers around that refuse not to put their spin (to put it mildly) on the curriculum. So handing the decision making to the teachers is not a panacea either.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Unfortunately there are also lots of RW evangelical teachers around that refuse not to put their spin (to put it mildly) on the curriculum. So handing the decision making to the teachers is not a panacea either.

Agreed.  Some "teach" science so badly, that the kids think it's bunk.....

...south park had just such an episode.

Episode-clip here:  NSFW  (language-- what else?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8asQkegV_wk

[Sibling DavidH]

Right-wing teachers in Britain can be counted on the fingers of a short-sighted butcher. But here there is no strong association between politcal affiliation and religiosity.
As for political interference, we have plenty of that.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

This:

McLeroy also succeeded in making changes to how Sen. Joseph McCarthy will be taught, painting the man – whose use of Congress to investigate alleged communist behavior in the 1950s has been widely repudiated – in a more favorable light.

reminds me of this:

Statues of Stalin have gone up around Russia. He now has museum in Volgograd, and a revision in school textbooks calls the old dictator a "competent manager" (though it does list his repressions).

Is it me or it's 1930 all over again?

1930 all over again, I think.

The solution to liberal bias is not to add conservative bias, it's to try and remove bias. I would say add, rather than subtract.

Politicians shouldn't decide on curriculum. That's way too easy to abuse. Furthermore, teachers should make all decisions in lieu of elected officials.

Here here!

[Darlica]

Our first Creationist Natural history Museum has just opened in Umeå in the North of Sweden...

[anthrobabe]

Our first Creationist Natural history Museum has just opened in Umeå in the North of Sweden...

Oh-- no, no, no---

And Scrib-- hang in there-- oh how difficult a situation---teachers are heros-- you will touch lives and the truth can not really be buried (in any situation) as long as the courageous remain.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

However sad and worrisome it may be to have a creationist museum anywhere, if we believe in democracy and free speech, we should allow a space for those with different beliefs.

Part of the discussion we had at TOP at some point was the main argument of having public schools teaching my child something I don't want him to 'learn'. This cuts both ways, I personally find creationism abhorrent and would be very angry if my son had his science teacher mention the stuff* but for a creationist the opposite is equally or more abhorrent.

This goes to the rights of the majority vs the rights of the minority (whichever is which) and how to balance incompatible desires in public services. The solution for some is homeschooling, for others private schools, I would propose elective materials and/or warnings (as done with sex education in many places, ie: the parent gets a note asking if he doesn't want his/her child to attend and an alternative assignment is done in the period).

The truth is that there will always be someone unhappy about any particular subject (say, the justification for the use of atomic bombs in WWII), which lends to think that if the subject is controversial it should be thought from a neutral POV or not at all.

*or for what matters, that McCarthy was a hero, or that Stalin was a 'competent administrator', etc, etc. In fact I very much dislike the pledge of allegiance in schools, which I associate with brainwashing more than anything else.

[Swatopluk]

What especially annoys me about the Pledge is the order. Flag first, nation almost an afterthought. I am allergic to any kind of flag cult. It's just a whateverhigherbeingdamn piece of cloth but it is treated like a pagan deity demanding sacrifices preferably in blood.
Not to forget that the US has an anthem that celebrates the bad aim of British gunners and rocketeers, unable to hit a flagpole despite several hours of shooting.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

What especially annoys me about the Pledge is the order. Flag first, nation almost an afterthought. I am allergic to any kind of flag cult. It's just a whateverhigherbeingdamn piece of cloth but it is treated like a pagan deity demanding sacrifices preferably in blood.

I agree completely.  Flag-worship is evil. Period.

Not to forget that the US has an anthem that celebrates the bad aim of British gunners and rocketeers, unable to hit a flagpole despite several hours of shooting.

That's a myth perpetrated by Francis Scott Key:  the flag was hit many times, we still have it somewhere or other, and there's lots of damage...



But I agree: our national "anthem" is a celebration of violence..... and not in a good way, either.  Long past time to retire that tribute to death and "glory"...