Sandy Hook
Friday, May 21, 2010
Texas State Board of Education Steps Back in Time
"Texas State Board of Education Dummies Down
Why? Because there are 10 Republican dummies on the 15 member board."
That was my lead on August 22, 2009 when the Texas State Board of Education approved the first draft for a "new" social studies curriculum that rewrites history.
Today the ax fell with a vote of 9-5 for standards that will stunt the intellectual growth of Texas students for at least a decade. Nine of the ten Republicans voted for it, five Democrats against it, and one Republican left before the votes.
The standards were adopted in three votes - high school, middle school and elementary school. It also adopted an economics standard in a fourth vote.
The San Antonio Express News reports that the tone of the meeting was set when a board member provided the invocation:
“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 during her prayer, adding that charters from some of the early settlements affirmed “a Christian land governed by Christian principles.”
This is a prayer? Maybe "invocation" should read "innovation."
Minority members were more than a little outraged. One said, "This is about politics. We have perverted the process. . ." and then screamed, "This thing belongs in the trash."
Another Democrat complained that Hispanic children will have to wait until they're in college before learning the "real truth." She added, "I am sorry that I am part of this board (that has produced a document) that is not accurate or that is hidden."
But one Republican board member chirped up and said she was proud to have her name on the document.
The standards will guide new textbooks covering history, government, geography and economics for 4.8 million Texas public school children beginning as early as the 2013-14 school year.
They promote a traditional view of history and the study of original documents, patriotism and free enterprise. The standards mention “free enterprise” more than 80 times.
(...)
The board majority put the violent Black Panthers in the standards but not the Ku Klux Kla, nor frontier atrocities committed against American Indians, nor the Texas Rangers' mistreatment of borderland Hispanics, she complained, adding, “We do learn from our mistakes, but if we don't point out what they are, history has a habit of repeating that mistake.”
According to the Express-News, "Minority children now make up 66 percent of the state's public school enrollment, a proportion that increases each year.
Well, I hope they grow up, multiply like rabbits and rise up against these ignorant know-nothings before more damage is done. All the minorities in the state of Texas should march on Austin and scream, "I want my education back."
See Reality Zone for further reading.
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And the demographics scare the hell out of those fundamentalist idiots!
ReplyDeletenice post Leslie.
As they should, Oso. But remember, they have God on their side.
ReplyDelete"The board majority put the violent Black Panthers in the standards but not the Ku Klux Kla[n]"
ReplyDeleteYeech...As loathesome as the Panthers are/were, I doubt they have ever committed even a fraction of the crimes, harassment, and domestic terror that the KKK have committed. Not even close. Just one example where I do not agree with these "Standards" as described here.
These so-called standards are arbitrary and selective. Translated that means they are non-standards.
ReplyDeleteNow they're talking about focusing on the (alleged and often untrue) insolvency of Social Security and Medicare.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds, Leslie, I wrote about that this morning over at Mad Mike's.
Will check it out, Bee. I think everyone is focused on this and the Pauly.
ReplyDeleteEveryone thought Frodo was joking when he said that the worst thing that ever happened to the United States of America was winning the War with Mexico. Just think, George W. Bush would've been President of Mexico. John Connolly would've been the only Mexican Secretary of the Treasury to declare personal bankruptcy. Davy Crockett would've lived. And all that crap would be washing up on the beaches of Cancun.
ReplyDeleteCan we send Calderon a belated concession note?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB_qmRjetdE&feature=related
ReplyDeleteThe GOP is looking to the future. For years they were able to decieve adults with their lies, butil the voter finally saw through them. Now they're working on the children.
ReplyDeleteFirst Arizona 'know nothings' foisting their religious fundamentalism on the rest of us and now Texas. What is it about the Southern (and Southwestern) states that fries the brain of some of it's citizens?
ReplyDeleteThis is outrageous. Not only will they teach falsehoods to their children, but the textbooks are bought throughout the land and will end up in many school districts.
Wonder if this is the Xtian's God of pay back for the Lone {glow in the night} Star State? LOL.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/22/20100522texas-nuclear-waste-ON.html
The publishers can easily print more than one version - kind of like the Bible! It will be more expensive and the textbooks will end up costing more for everyone. Of course, if the publishers had any scruples, they would refuse to print the ones that rewrite history.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone wondered what other countries in history have forced a government's doctrine on students?
To me the biggest concern is for students who's families can't afford to put them in private schools. When they take entrance exams for college they will be lucky to pass because they are lacking in any real knowledge of social studies. This will impact on their careers and quality of life.
Hopefully they will get the pants sued off their tight asses.
"To me the biggest concern is for students who's families can't afford to put them in private schools."
ReplyDeleteAll the more reason for vouchers or other options to expand educational opportunities and choice. So it won't be only the rich families who have the choice to send their children to superior schools.