Two holidays from Christianity Judaism too much; Christmas Rosh Hashanah axed
By William Lutz The Lone Star Report
Could somebody please tell me what planet the education bureaucracy lives on? Yes educators (and particularly education professors) are liberal but theyre usually pretty good at covering it up or at least making their multicultural agenda look as if its not a threat to normal American values.But theyve gone way overboard with the drafts of the proposed new social studies curriculum (the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or TEKS) and in so doing have pitched a softball to the conservatives on the State Board of Education. Lets see if they can hit this one out of the park both at this weeks meeting and throughout the review of the social studies TEKS.
The sixth grade world cultures class has students learn about festivals from the worlds major religions. The current curriculum includes both Christmas and Easter and both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The curriculum writers thought that putting two holidays from Christianity and Judaism was too much so they axed Christmas and Rosh Hashanah and added the Hindu festival of Diwali so that Hinduism would be represented.
Can someone tell me what Diwali is? Who has heard of it and what influence has it had on American culture?
By contrast everybody knows what Christmas and Easter are even non-Christians. They have tremendous influence on the culture literature and history of the Western world. Of course students should be taught about Christmas and Easter.
Not surprisingly conservatives are having a field day with this.
Its outrageous that the war on Christmas continues in our state and in our nation. This effort to mislead students about current society is shameful and must be stopped" said Jonathan Saenz Director of Legislative Affairs for the Free Market Foundation.
This controversy demonstrates one of the main reasons why we have an elected State Board of Education to stop garbage like this from happening. And it is one of the main reasons professional educators want that board neutered it exposes and stops attempts to use the school curriculum to bash America and American values.
The House Public Education Committee took a left-turn in 2009 and approved several bills that harm kids by taking authority away from the State Board of Education and turning it over to appointed bureaucrats. The people responsible for those bills have a lot of explaining to do.
Without the State Board of Education Christmas and Easter will disappear from Texas classrooms and kids wont know the real origins of the Thanksgiving festival.
When legislators including a few so-called Republicans try to take power away from the State Board of Education they are in effect endorsing the agenda of left-wing professors at the education schools.
For example last session the Texas Legislature passed HB 4294 a special-interest bill designed to allow computer companies to get a cut of the states multi-million dollar textbook budget. One section of that bill allows computer companies seeking to enter the textbook market to by-pass the elected State Board of Education and instead get approval for their content from appointed officials at the Texas Education Agency.
In signing the bill Gov. Rick Perry directed the Commissioner of Education to include the State Board of Education in the textbook approval process and as 
long as Robert Scott remains Commissioner of Education that directive likely gets implemented faithfully.
But commissioners come and go and HB 4294 has created a loophole big enough to get a Christmas-free social studies book through.
Legislators have a choice: either they are with the State Board of Education or they are giving aid and comfort to the left and in effect endorsing taking Christmas out of our classrooms and depriving a generation of knowing why the United States of America was the greatest country ever created.
Lets give credit to the Social Studies TEKS writing teams theyve provided the State Board of Education an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its value.
Im going to have fun watching the conservative board members milk this one for all its worth.
Will Lutz is Managing Editor of the Lone Star Report a publication of the Lone Star Foundation in Austin Texas.
Could somebody please tell me what planet the education bureaucracy lives on? Yes educators (and particularly education professors) are liberal but theyre usually pretty good at covering it up or at least making their multicultural agenda look as if its not a threat to normal American values.But theyve gone way overboard with the drafts of the proposed new social studies curriculum (the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or TEKS) and in so doing have pitched a softball to the conservatives on the State Board of Education. Lets see if they can hit this one out of the park both at this weeks meeting and throughout the review of the social studies TEKS.
The sixth grade world cultures class has students learn about festivals from the worlds major religions. The current curriculum includes both Christmas and Easter and both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The curriculum writers thought that putting two holidays from Christianity and Judaism was too much so they axed Christmas and Rosh Hashanah and added the Hindu festival of Diwali so that Hinduism would be represented.
Can someone tell me what Diwali is? Who has heard of it and what influence has it had on American culture?
By contrast everybody knows what Christmas and Easter are even non-Christians. They have tremendous influence on the culture literature and history of the Western world. Of course students should be taught about Christmas and Easter.
Not surprisingly conservatives are having a field day with this.
Its outrageous that the war on Christmas continues in our state and in our nation. This effort to mislead students about current society is shameful and must be stopped" said Jonathan Saenz Director of Legislative Affairs for the Free Market Foundation.
This controversy demonstrates one of the main reasons why we have an elected State Board of Education to stop garbage like this from happening. And it is one of the main reasons professional educators want that board neutered it exposes and stops attempts to use the school curriculum to bash America and American values.
The House Public Education Committee took a left-turn in 2009 and approved several bills that harm kids by taking authority away from the State Board of Education and turning it over to appointed bureaucrats. The people responsible for those bills have a lot of explaining to do.
Without the State Board of Education Christmas and Easter will disappear from Texas classrooms and kids wont know the real origins of the Thanksgiving festival.
When legislators including a few so-called Republicans try to take power away from the State Board of Education they are in effect endorsing the agenda of left-wing professors at the education schools.
For example last session the Texas Legislature passed HB 4294 a special-interest bill designed to allow computer companies to get a cut of the states multi-million dollar textbook budget. One section of that bill allows computer companies seeking to enter the textbook market to by-pass the elected State Board of Education and instead get approval for their content from appointed officials at the Texas Education Agency.
In signing the bill Gov. Rick Perry directed the Commissioner of Education to include the State Board of Education in the textbook approval process and as long as Robert Scott remains Commissioner of Education that directive likely gets implemented faithfully.
But commissioners come and go and HB 4294 has created a loophole big enough to get a Christmas-free social studies book through.
Legislators have a choice: either they are with the State Board of Education or they are giving aid and comfort to the left and in effect endorsing taking Christmas out of our classrooms and depriving a generation of knowing why the United States of America was the greatest country ever created.
Lets give credit to the Social Studies TEKS writing teams theyve provided the State Board of Education an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its value.
Im going to have fun watching the conservative board members milk this one for all its worth.
Will Lutz is Managing Editor of the Lone Star Report a publication of the Lone Star Foundation in Austin Texas.
