Under state law the elected members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) are responsible for identifying the essential knowledge & skills for K-12 public school students in Texas with input from educators parents businesses and industry representatives.
The Texas SBOE is currently reviewing new social studies textbook standards as part of the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) curriculum update and is scheduled to meet this week prior to adopting the final standards in March 2010.
Each time textbooks are reviewed some special interest groups view the process as an opportunity to promote their social or political agendas through our education system. However in reviewing the social studies curriculum standards the State Board of Education should focus on making decisions based on factual information that improve the quality of education for our students.
Furthermore the curriculum should instill in students a legitimate sense of pride in our country our values and our leaders rather than serve as a source of shame. Countless individuals and families have risked their lives to move to the United States because our country has been and continues to be the greatest place in the world to live.
The following guidelines should be employed when reviewing the curriculum standards:
· The United States occupies an exceptional position in world history as a representative democracy. Students should learn how our government was designed to operate by our Founding Fathers to maximize individual liberties religious freedom and economic prosperity.
· The United States was founded on the principles of freedom both religious & economic. Our students should learn factual balanced and unbiased accounts of the events and individuals that represent these traditional American values.
· Our education system should provide students a positive view of their heritage as Americans that includes accounts of leadership and innovation in science medicine literature economics arts religion agriculture and technology.
· Additionally our free market economy outstanding leadership and unique freedoms have all contributed to making the United States the most prosperous nation in the world.
The debate regarding the social studies standards in Texas has national implications for students parents and educators.
Because of our States sizable population and the large number of schools students and textbooks the curriculum standards that are under review and that will ultimately be approved by the State Board of Education are incorporated into textbooks that are used nationwide.
Our education system should promote a set of academic skills that will promote outstanding student success for all Texas students. Academic success starts with the curriculum standards that the State Board of Education approves.
There have been attempts to revise the social studies curriculum to incorporate bias against individual liberties the free enterprise system and personal responsibility through the removal and changing of important facts and information in school curriculum.
Our elected State Board of Education members are under a significant amount of pressure to revise social studies standards that will have an impact on how and what the next generation of Texas students will learn as they progress in their education.
Every piece of knowledge our children learn in our schools our homes and our communities creates a set of values.
My desire is for our children in Texas to acquire knowledge based on historically accurate information while also gaining a set of values that makes them proud to be Americans.
Under state law the elected members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) are responsible for identifying the essential knowledge & skills for K-12 public school students in Texas with input from educators parents businesses and industry representatives.
The Texas SBOE is currently reviewing new social studies textbook standards as part of the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) curriculum update and is scheduled to meet this week prior to adopting the final standards in March 2010.
Each time textbooks are reviewed some special interest groups view the process as an opportunity to promote their social or political agendas through our education system. However in reviewing the social studies curriculum standards the State Board of Education should focus on making decisions based on factual information that improve the quality of education for our students.
Furthermore the curriculum should instill in students a legitimate sense of pride in our country our values and our leaders rather than serve as a source of shame. Countless individuals and families have risked their lives to move to the United States because our country has been and continues to be the greatest place in the world to live.
The following guidelines should be employed when reviewing the curriculum standards:
· The United States occupies an exceptional position in world history as a representative democracy. Students should learn how our government was designed to operate by our Founding Fathers to maximize individual liberties religious freedom and economic prosperity.
· The United States was founded on the principles of freedom both religious & economic. Our students should learn factual balanced and unbiased accounts of the events and individuals that represent these traditional American values.
· Our education system should provide students a positive view of their heritage as Americans that includes accounts of leadership and innovation in science medicine literature economics arts religion agriculture and technology.
· Additionally our free market economy outstanding leadership and unique freedoms have all contributed to making the United States the most prosperous nation in the world.
The debate regarding the social studies standards in Texas has national implications for students parents and educators.
Because of our States sizable population and the large number of schools students and textbooks the curriculum standards that are under review and that will ultimately be approved by the State Board of Education are incorporated into textbooks that are used nationwide.
Our education system should promote a set of academic skills that will promote outstanding student success for all Texas students. Academic success starts with the curriculum standards that the State Board of Education approves.
There have been attempts to revise the social studies curriculum to incorporate bias against individual liberties the free enterprise system and personal responsibility through the removal and changing of important facts and information in school curriculum.
Our elected State Board of Education members are under a significant amount of pressure to revise social studies standards that will have an impact on how and what the next generation of Texas students will learn as they progress in their education.
Every piece of knowledge our children learn in our schools our homes and our communities creates a set of values.
My desire is for our children in Texas to acquire knowledge based on historically accurate information while also gaining a set of values that makes them proud to be Americans.
