By Jonathan Saenz for Texas Insider
The debate over Texas social studies is out of control again. The liberal left is up to its usual political games trying to distort the truth and silence the voices of thousands of Texans including numerous teachers and parents who have called e-mailed & testified before their State Board of Education (SBOE) members.
One newspaper editorial even compared the majority of
the SBOE members to the Taliban.
Left-leaning voices have also weighed in from California and New York as they know when it comes to education and textbooks what happens in Texas doesnt just stay in Texas.
Why? Its all about politics.
The Board is made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats who are elected by the citizens of Texas. That is a problem for the liberal left which sees the public school system as the best way to radically change the course of our nation by changing the worldview of the next generation and distorting our history.
Finally after four public hearings and more than 14 months of review and discussion they have confessed their true motivation ... that being to:
- Control what our kids are taught in school by
- Keeping some teachers parents & the democratic process out!
Heres proof: The national American Civil Liberties Union has now jumped into the fray trying to force their left-wing version of Texas social studies and supporting gubernatorial candidate Bill Whites demands that the Board delay its final vote on the standards currently scheduled for next month.
The ACLU and White want the Board to wait until January 2011 after the November elections to take a final vote on social studies curriculum standards hoping there will be more liberal representation on the Board.
Whats more political than that? How about using Thomas Jefferson as a political pawn?
Jefferson was never removed from the social studies standards.
Instead of talking about his political philosophies in World History students will learn about them in U.S. Government. Jefferson is covered in three other social
studies sections as well.
The liberal left and Bill White know this but were desperate for a message and a headline and distorted the facts about Jefferson to push their agenda and their media friends were happy to play along.
The truth is that for over a year Texans have been speaking out against attempts to remove or diminish:
- Important Historical Figures
- Holdiays & Celebrations
- Concepts & Symbols like Neil Armstrong Albert Einstein Christmas Independence Day the Liberty Bell & religious heritage.
Texans have also insisted that our history books reflect America accurately and NOT in a predominantly negative light. Thank God
the State Board of Education took the time to notice such frightening proposals and misguided versions of history and social studies and rightly struck them down.
Many of the unelected reviewers who recommended these wild proposals such as removing Armstrong or Christmas are lauded by the left as credentialed and experts. One such professor thinks the first man on the moon (Armstrong) and the man who invented the telephone (Bell) should be removed from the standards
and that the most famous world explorer (Columbus) needs to be talked about less.
The State Board of Educations role is to be a check on such nonsense and they rightly stepped in to reject these proposals.
In addition to necessary corrections the majority of the Board said yes to:
- the League of United Latin American Citizens)
- the National Rifle Association
- Ann Richards
- Hillary Clinton
- Barbara Jordan
- W.E.B. Dubois
- Lorenzo de Zavala
- Cesar Chavez
- Thurgood Marshall
- Ellen Ochoa
- Roy Benavides
- James A. Baker III
- William Blackstone
- Susan B. Anthony
- Rosa Parks
- the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- the Moral Majority
- and many more!
The Board also voted for Texas students to learn about various religions including:
- Hinduism
- Islam
- Judaism
- Sikhism and
- Christianity as well.
To any reasonable person this all looks like a diverse list of notable persons organizations and belief systems. But thats not enough for the liberal left who want social studies skewed in their favor long on politically correct jargon short on facts.
The State Board of Education countless educators parents and the general public have weighed in on the social studies issue for over a year. This process has taken longer than the five (5) months the Texas Legislature is in session and the Texas State Board of Education has represented the people of Texas well.
Its time to drop the political games and to complete the social studies adoption process in May 2010 as scheduled.
Save the campaign speeches for the November elections.
And thanks to a majority vote of the State Board of Education members Texas students will now learn the importance of holding public officials to their word a
standard covered appropriately in first grade.
Jonathan Saenz is director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute a nonprofit policy organization & legal firm fighting to protect freedoms and strengthen families.
and that the most famous world explorer (Columbus) needs to be talked about less.
The State Board of Educations role is to be a check on such nonsense and they rightly stepped in to reject these proposals.
In addition to necessary corrections the majority of the Board said yes to:
