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TEXAS RIGHT WING HISTORY CURRICULUM COULD INFECT NATIONAL TEXTBOOKS
TPM Muckraker - The GOP-controlled [Texas] State Board of Education is working on a new set of statewide textbook standards for, among other subjects, U.S. History Studies Since Reconstruction. And it turns out what the board decides may end up having implications far beyond the Lone Star State.
The first draft of the standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out a kind of Human Events version of U.S. history.
Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to "identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority." No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members.
The standards on Nixon: "describe Richard M. Nixon's role in the normalization of relations with China and the policy of detente."
On Reagan: "describe Ronald Reagan's role in restoring national confidence, such as Reaganomics and Peace with Strength." . . .
What happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas, says Diane Ravitch, professor of education at NYU.
That's because Texas is one of the two states with the largest student enrollments, along with California. "The publishers vie to get their books adopted for them, and the changes that are inserted to please Texas and California are then part of the textbooks made available to every other state," says Ravitch, who wrote a book about the politics of textbooks.
Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute explains it as a simple economic calculation by the big textbook publishers. "Publishers are generally reticent to run two different versions of a textbook," he says. "You can imagine the headache the expense the logistics, the storage, all of it."
The first draft of the standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out a kind of Human Events version of U.S. history.
Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to "identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority." No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members.
The standards on Nixon: "describe Richard M. Nixon's role in the normalization of relations with China and the policy of detente."
On Reagan: "describe Ronald Reagan's role in restoring national confidence, such as Reaganomics and Peace with Strength." . . .
What happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas, says Diane Ravitch, professor of education at NYU.
That's because Texas is one of the two states with the largest student enrollments, along with California. "The publishers vie to get their books adopted for them, and the changes that are inserted to please Texas and California are then part of the textbooks made available to every other state," says Ravitch, who wrote a book about the politics of textbooks.
Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute explains it as a simple economic calculation by the big textbook publishers. "Publishers are generally reticent to run two different versions of a textbook," he says. "You can imagine the headache the expense the logistics, the storage, all of it."
posted by TPR | 11:15 AM
9 Comments:
It's all well and good, but unlikely to pass muster as constitutional. Publishers would be wise to publish a limited set of books for Texas and a few other states. They can then double dip on sales if this decree passes. First with the right wing books, and then with standard bland history books after the decree is deemed unconstitutional. While I realize the political content of say Regan's peace with strength is not unconstitutional per se, I imagine they'll have a hard time not throwing god in there.
Find a company in Texas that gives money to the Texas GOP then get many liberals across the nation to contact that company and say "We won't buy your products until The Texas Education Dept. removes the right wing slant from the Textbooks they approve."
http://democratz.org
There is no choice about purchase of the textbooks. They are mandated by the state and every school public school in Texas must use them.
The only progressive solution would be for those in the center (which is what passes for liberal in the US today) to start their own private schools.
Can't we just kick Texas out of the Union?
Kicking Texas out would only make things worse. The Republic of Texas would still be the single biggest market for textbooks in English, and the US would lose quite a bit in taxes.
Maybe Mexico would be interested in recovering their long-lost property. And making Texas a 'mexican' speaking country.
Heh, Heh, Heh....
Losing the tax base would be worth it.
I know the rest of the country loves to blame Texas for GWB, but that overlooks numerous facts. First, GWB is from a New England family that was intentionally sent to Texas during the early days of the economic war between the Eastern banking establishment and the Western oil industry. GHWB became the Bankers' mole in Cowboy territory and the family has continued to perform that function since.
GWB's phony vacation ranch in Crawford is all any real Texan needed to see to know that his cowboy act was just that: an act to get votes from the Christian extremists and other ignorant middle-American types. As for having been the Governor of Texas, well, he could have been elected Governor of any state his backers chose just on the basis of his name. The truth is that the Governor of Texas has less power than any other Governor in the US and in actual practice probably has less power than the Lieutenant Governor. It was the perfect first political office for a known underachiever and was purchased for him by wealthy out-of-state backers.
So, if you want to lay blame for the mess the country is in, the GOP and their wealthy donors from every state are the place to start.
This isn't about Dubya, he's probably gonna run to his property in Paraguay if/when people start looking into his administration.
This is about the GOP party in Texas, the people who continue to vote them into office, their State party platform, Texas state laws, and their effects upon our countries textbooks.
Well, that's how the thread started, but 9:26 and 10:30 expanded it into general bashing of the entire state. That was going too far.
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