New Texas textbooks a bit light on historical facts - fighting the troglodytes in TX

[beam me up scottie]

New Texas textbooks a bit light on historical facts
August 30, 2015 by Lilandra Ra

Although many concerned citizens, including Aron and me,



testified in protest to certain claims like the theocratic dictator Moses having influenced the American system of government, Texas students will now learn that, and also about what an exceptional snowflake America is. It could have been worse had people not stepped in to remind the Texas State Board of Education that American history is not all white, nor all ‘Right’, but even though they stopped some of the shenanigans some of it still got through.

A number of concerned people have contacted us about Texas playing fast and loose with the word ‘history’. We have been fighting this issue for years, and others have too, including the nonsectarian secular advocacy group, Texas Freedom Network. Additionally history professors have testified at every stage of the adoption process, but were largely ignored by the SBOE in favor of right wing ideologues. Zack Kopplin, separation of church and state advocate of near celebrity status, has also been there, like he often is in Texas and his native Louisiana. He wrote an article for Slate on testimony before the new books were adopted. Just so you know the caliber of people influencing the SBOE, he quoted Right Wing ideologue and SBOE darling Roy Smith of ‘Truth in Texas Textbooks’.

Truth in Texas Textbooks submitted a 469-page document of its complaints to the board of education. One complaint was against a Pearson textbook that showed Sam Houston in a “dress.” TTT was concerned by the “subtle message this imagery is conveying to impressionable 7th grade students.” (Pearson responded that the “dress” was “Cherokee garb from the time during which (Houston) lived with the Cherokee.”)

TTT was also opposed to the “anti-American bias/subliminal messages” in a question about the Mexican-American War that made “the U.S. out to be the ‘bad guy’ and Mexico to be the ‘good guy.’”

...

The biggest stumbling block for textbook publishers is that the SBOE managed to adopt flawed standards in 2010. These standards shoehorn history into the SBOE’s agenda of making a history classroom into a bully pulpit where other people’s children are forced to listen to Christian Right Wing propaganda. Lest you think I am exaggerating about the preaching that sometimes goes on in Texas classrooms, as a former Texas teacher, I actually had a a misguided colleague use Social Studies to do just that. We were supposed to teach about world religions, as a part of understanding culture. She told them that unlike other religions, the Ten Commandments actually promise you that you live a long life if you honor your parents.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you”

Won’t teachers like her be thrilled that publishers since the 2010 adoption of the Social Studies standards by the SBOE now will be catering to Religious Right ideology?

(c) Knowledge and skills.

(1) History. The student understands how constitutional government, as developed in America and expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution, has been influenced by ideas, people, and historical documents. The student is expected to:

(A) explain major political ideas in history, including the laws of nature and nature’s God, unalienable rights, divine right of kings, social contract theory, and the rights of resistance to illegitimate government;

(B) identify major intellectual, philosophical, political, and religious traditions that informed the American founding, including Judeo-Christian (especially biblical law), English common law and constitutionalism, Enlightenment, and republicanism, as they address issues of liberty, rights, and responsibilities of individuals;

(C) identify the individuals whose principles of laws and government institutions informed the American founding documents, including those of Moses, William Blackstone, John Locke, and Charles de Montesquieu;

Much more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/reasonadvocates/2015/08/30/new-texas-textbooks-a-bit-light-on-historical-facts/

If you're from Texas please sign the petition.