Texas School Board Influencing National Textbooks?

[Buttercup]

There's a possibility that conservative school board members in Texas may influence what students across the country read in their text books.

"The nation’s public school curriculum may be in for a Texas-sized overhaul, if the Lone Star state’s influential recommendations for changes to social studies, economics and history textbooks are fully ratified later this spring. Last Friday, in a 10-to-5 vote split right down party lines, the Texas State Board of Education approved some controversial right-leaning alterations to what most students in the state—and by extension, in much of the rest of the country—will be studying as received historical and social-scientific wisdom. After a public comment period, the board will vote on final recommendations in May.

The revised standards have far-reaching implications because Texas is a huge market leader in the school-textbook industry. The enormous print run for Texas textbooks leaves most districts in other states adopting the same course materials, so that the Texas School Board effectively spells out requirements for 80 percent of the nation’s textbook market. That means, for instance, that schools in left-leaning states like Oregon and Vermont could soon be teaching from textbooks that are short on references to Ted Kennedy but long on references to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly."

U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism - Yahoo! News

Maybe we should let Texas secede and move to Antarctica.

Kidding.

 

[Sunstone]

Corruption.

 

[T-Dawg]

I told you all ages ago that this would become a problem, but did you listen?? No!

Now we're all doomed... gah, they even have the nerve to give Phyllis Schlafly a place in their books... I bet they're putting her son Andrew Schlafly there too, and even daring to put such contemptible scum in a positive light.

Texas should be kicked out of the union before it gets away with ruining our textbooks for years to come.
Not kidding.

 

[KatNotKathy]

Reminder that some of the people doing this aren't even educators or historians. They have no qualifications.

 

[Sunstone]

Reminder that some of the people doing this aren't even educators or historians. They have no qualifications.

Their qualifications are they were elected by a majority of the people of Texas to spread lies and distortions.

 

[KatNotKathy]

A girl can dream.

 

[AzraelsTear]

A girl can dream.

i do not know how to interpret that picture, it looks like an insult towards mexico, a very nice country. you either think that texas and others should join mexico (and that is bad) or that florida and that alike should join mexico and become better whiles the backwards others are to be united states??

i just dont know

 

[Sunstone]

i just dont know

Granted.

 

[KatNotKathy]

i do not know how to interpret that picture, it looks like an insult towards mexico, a very nice country. you either think that texas and others should join mexico (and that is bad) or that florida and that alike should join mexico and become better whiles the backwards others are to be united states??

i just dont know

Maybe if we give Texas back to Mexico they'll make better use of it than we have. Also apparently a few other garbage states.

 

[AzraelsTear]

Maybe if we give Texas back to Mexico they'll make better use of it than we have. Also apparently a few other garbage states.

honestly, i do not think anyone wants whats in texas, backwards fundamentalist morons aren't to popular in the civilized world, that is for sure....

maybe north korea? they are similar.

 

[KatNotKathy]

honestly, i do not think anyone wants whats in texas, backwards fundamentalist morons aren't to popular in the civilized world, that is for sure....

maybe north korea? they are similar.

There's plenty of nice resources there, it's just the people that are the problem.

Viva Aztlan snipe.

 

[AzraelsTear]

There's plenty of nice resources there, it's just the people that are the problem.

Viva Aztlan snipe.

i choose not to drink the water someone ****** in.. but thats just me

 

[MSizer]

Unfortunately, if you're in the business of selling books, and the biggest buyer of books wants your book to have fairy tales in the science chapter, you're pretty motivated to figure out a way to make it happen. It's a matter of money.

 

[darkendless]

Unfortunately, if you're in the business of selling books, and the biggest buyer of books wants your book to have fairy tales in the science chapter, you're pretty motivated to figure out a way to make it happen. It's a matter of money.

Sad but true.

I couldn't imagine living in such a backward place, i think i'd get hung for calling the textbook christian-charged-BS and then using facts in a classroom

if Texas doesn't teach science properly though, how do they expect to grow competent engineers/scientists/every other human for that matter?

So glad we don't have that problem here in Oz.

 

[Sunstone]

I wouldn't mind the people of Texas chosing to live in their own little fantasy world and teach that fantasy to their children except that, the way the system is set up, their standards become the standards for 80% of the rest of us. And, frankly, my standards are not as low as those of Texas, so I resent having their inferior standards imposed on me.

 

[bp789]

I would just like to remind everyone that not all Texans are fundamentalist Christian bigots who want creationism in our science textbooks. I live in Texas and I am nothing like that and there are plenty of other people who are also not like that (although the area I live in is more liberal than other places).

Also, the biology textbook that my high school actually teaches evolution, so it's not as if we all just believe in Adam and Eve or something.

 

[Wandered Off]

I would just like to remind everyone that not all Texans are fundamentalist Christian bigots who want creationism in our science textbooks.

It doesn't matter. Geographic bigotry is among the last socially acceptable forms.

The fact is that the State Board of Education is one of those down-ballot races that hasn't gotten a lot of press or voter attention in recent years. Like everywhere else, we tend to focus on big races like governor (who is not the most powerful person in the state) or Senator. Voter apathy and poor turnout are pretty much on par here with the rest of the country, so it is relatively easy for a small, focused, and determined group to mobilize followers and have a disproportionate impact. That's what happened here. It is much more about general political apathy - not significantly different from other states - than rampant fundamentalism, although that doesn't play as well into snarkiness.

I do hope more of us will wake up and begin taking active interest in these races. For what it's worth, a couple of these idiots were defeated by more reasonable people in the last election.

 

[Sunstone]

It doesn't matter. Geographic bigotry is among the last socially acceptable forms.

The fact is that the State Board of Education is one of those down-ballot races that hasn't gotten a lot of press or voter attention in recent years. Like everywhere else, we tend to focus on big races like governor (who is not the most powerful person in the state) or Senator. Voter apathy and poor turnout are pretty much on par here with the rest of the country, so it is relatively easy for a small, focused, and determined group to mobilize followers and have a disproportionate impact. That's what happened here. It is much more about general political apathy - not significantly different from other states - than rampant fundamentalism, although that doesn't play as well into snarkiness.

I do hope more of us will wake up and begin taking active interest in these races. For what it's worth, a couple of these idiots were defeated by more reasonable people in the last election.

It's good to know what's actually happening here. I was under the impression that a majority of the Texas electorate supported these bozos. That's a dismal thought if there ever was one.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The fact is that the State Board of Education is one of those down-ballot races that hasn't gotten a lot of press or voter attention in recent years.

Or party attention, at least from the Democrats. For a number of years, they had a policy of focusing their resources on "major" campaigns like federal congress and senate at the expense of "minor" elections like those for State Board of Education and those at the local and county level.

Looks like the current situation is in large part a result of their decision to prioritize their efforts that way, while the Republicans took a different approach.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Because of this story, which I saw on TV, I only just learned that USA does not have country wide education standards.

I am still shocked....

NELL: Setting the bar for education standards in USA everywhere....