May 13, 2010
I get e-mail, this time from the Texas Freedom Network:
The State Board of Education meeting is next week, and we need YOU to make a difference.
“Am I a religious fanatic? Absolutely. You’d have to be to do what I do.”
– State Board of Education member Don McLeroy
Don't White Out Our History! - Texas Freedom Network
Is this who you want to decide what Texas schoolchildren learn? Or would you rather entrust that task to someone who believes public education is a “tool of perversion,” as board member Cynthia Dunbar believes? Or maybe any one of the board members who believe the separation of church and state is a myth?
If this is not what you want for Texas children, NOW is the critical time to take a stand.
The controversial social studies curriculum process is coming to an end. Public testimony will be heard at the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 19, and we expect a vote on these standards to take place the following day. We need you to stand up to the State Board of Education by attending our rally on Wednesday, May 19. Or testifying in front of the board. Or both!
“Don’t White-Out Our History” Rally
Wednesday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m.
William B. Travis building (where the state board meets).
Click here to sign up to attend the rally.
Also on Wednesday, the State Board of Education will hear public testimony on the social studies curriculum standards. Since you are already planning to be at the William B. Travis building for the rally, you can also sign up to testify! Read below for more information on registering to testify with the Texas Education Agency. (Testimony will begin in the morning and likely stretch into the evening — so if you wish to testify, be prepared for a long day.)
We look forward to seeing you next week. If you have any questions, e-mail Judie or call us at 512-322-0545.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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Curricula, Economics, Education, Education quality, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, History Revisionism, Social Studies, State school boards, TAKS, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Economics, Education, geography, History, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas, Texas Freedom Network | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
May 6, 2010
I get e-mail from the NAACP; the rest of the nation is paying attention to the follies run by the conservative bureaucrats at the SBOE:
Ed,
I wouldn’t want to be a Texas State Board member this week.
Last week, we asked you to write to your representative, telling him or her that rewriting Texas history textbooks is ignorant and unpatriotic.
Over 1,500 people have already written in, filling the inboxes of our school leaders.
This week, we’d like to offer you one more chance to get involved. The NAACP is planning rallies, hearings and press conferences in Texas to stop the state board from rewriting history. But we can’t do it without you.
An issue as controversial as rewriting history elicits strong emotions, and we want to give you the chance to speak out. Do you have something you would like to say at the hearing?
http://action.naacp.org/TextbookHearing
The NAACP works to ensure equal rights and to eliminate discrimination against all racial and ethnic groups. The proposed changes to our textbooks threaten our mission. This is not about Republicans or Democrats — it’s about our shared history as Texans. That’s why we want to use the words of our Texas supporters to turn the tide.
The Texas textbook vote is just two weeks away, so we need to push ourselves harder now than ever before.
The future of our children’s education is in the hands of just a few State Board members. Your voice could be the one to tip the scale.
Take a moment to tell us what you think about the Texas State Board rewriting history. The best submissions will be read at the hearing on May 19th.
http://action.naacp.org/TextbookHearing
Thank you for helping to protect our history.
Gary Bledsoe
President, Texas NAACP
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Bogus history, Economics, Education, Education reform, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, History Methods and Tools, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, State school boards, State Standards, Texas, Texas history, Voodoo history | Tagged: Bogus history, Economics, Education, geography, Government, History, Politics, Social Studies, Texas State Board of Education, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
May 3, 2010
What? The Texas State Board of Education is doing such a shoddy job of writing social studies standards that they don’t even name the current president of the U.S.?
It’s a cautionary tale of overprescribing, and of looking at everything as if it has some ulterior motive. But is there any rational reason why the SBOE refuses to utter the name “Obama?”
Who is this man? Texas social studies standards let his identity remain a mystery, despite the historical significance of his election.
SBOE should stop gutting social studies standards and vote to simply accept the updates provided by teachers, historians, economists and geographers. The process is out of control, embarrassing to Texas, and damaging to education.
Grading Texas has the story (from TSTA), here in its entirety (but go check out that blog):
April 28, 2010
The president has a name: it’s Barack Obama
TSTA President Rita Haecker created a stir among legislators today when she testified, at a hearing hosted by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, that the State Board of Education, in its recent rewrite of social studies curriculum standards, had refused to name President Barack Obama.
That bit of news seemed to catch several lawmakers by surprise. They already knew that the right-wing bloc on the board had attempted to rewrite history. But to go so far as to omit the name of the historic, first African American president of the United States seemed preposterous, even by conservative leader Don (the Earth is 5,000 years old) McLeroy’s standards.
Haecker was correct. Barack Obama’s name, so far, has not been included in the history curriculum standards on which the SBOE is scheduled to take a final vote next month. The standards do note the “election of first black president” as a significant event of 2008, but they don’t say who that black president is.
Haecker urged legislators to make changes, if necessary, to the curriculum setting process to protect educator input and ensure that “scholarly, academic research and findings aren’t dismissed or diminished at the whim of a board member’s own political or religious view of the world.”
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott accepted the caucus’ invitation to voluntarily testify on the curriculum adoption process. He said his and the Texas Education Agency’s role was mostly in technical support of the SBOE.
Board Chairwoman Gail Lowe of Lampasas, who also had been invited, declined to attend, even though the caucus had offered to pay her travel expenses.
Predictably, Lowe was skewered for her failure to show up by the mostly Democratic legislators who attended the caucus hearing. Lowe must have figured it was better to be skewered in absentia than in person.
You can read Rita Haecker’s prepared testimony here:
http://www.tsta.org/news/current/
Oh, go on — you can say it — tell your friends:
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Barack Obama, Bogus history, History, History blogs, History Revisionism, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, State school boards, TAKS, TEKS, Texas, Voodoo history | Tagged: Barack Obama, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, Social Studies Standards, TAKS, TEKS, Texas, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 29, 2010
Good information, oddly enough for a political note:
Dear Ed,
We need your help to keep divisive politics out of Texas’ classrooms.
From now until May 14th, the State Board of Education is accepting public comments on its proposed curriculum changes.
The SBOE has proposed removing Thomas Jefferson from a part of the curriculum. They are also planning to exclude references to Hispanics who fought Santa Anna and died at the Alamo.
Watch the YouTube video with my brief comments by clicking here.
During the primaries, Texans voted against the most extreme and hyper-political SBOE candidates, sending a clear message about their approach of injecting politics into our classrooms.
Last month, I called on Rick Perry to ask his appointed chair of the SBOE to either send changes back to expert review teams or delay the vote until new board members are seated.
Perry’s response has been to say that he’s not going to “try to outsmart” the SBOE. He declined to show leadership, refusing to ask his appointed chair of SBOE to rein in the hyper-political curriculum amendment process.
Join the conversation and spread the word about this opportunity to be heard.
Our next governor should be a leader who ensures our schools prepare young Texans for college and their careers. I am committed to improving education and working for our future.
Thank you for taking the time to weigh in.
Sincerely,
Bill White
P.S. If you would like to send your comments directly to the SBOE, click here.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | Economics, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Government, History, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Texas history, War on Education | Tagged: Bill White, Education, Social Studies, Texas, Texas State Board of Education, War on Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 23, 2010
Jeff Danziger cartoon, for the New York Times Syndicate, on Texas State Board of Education “changes” to Texas social studies texts.
People for the American Way have joined the fight for good education in Texas, pushing better social studies education standards. The Texas State Board of Education will conduct final votes on social studies standards in May.
Grotesque slashes damaged social studies standards in the last round of amendments. Conservatives will probably try to keep secret their proposed changes, offering a flurry of last-minute amendments carefully designed to gut serious education and make the standards work as indoctrination for young conservatives instead.
PFAW has good reason to fear. Here’s their letter. from PFAW President Michael Keegan:
Dear People For Supporter,
Thomas Jefferson banned in Texas schools? Maybe… if the Right has its way. The fight is still on to keep absurd changes out of the Texas social studies textbook standards, with the final standards set to be adopted by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) on May 21.
Right-wing members of the SBOE are using the textbook standards in Texas to rewrite history in a way that could impact students across the U.S., tossing out facts in favor of propaganda like:
- America is a Christian country, founded on “Biblical principles.”
- Conservative icons from Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, the Moral Majority and even Sen. Joseph McCarthy are history’s “good guys,” but progressives and progressive values are at odds with what it means to be “American.”
- Words like “democracy” (sounds like “Democrat!”) have nothing to do with America — we’re a Republic — In fact, “capitalism” has sort of a negative connotation to some, so they want that word to be universally replaced with “free market.”
- Some of the major contributions of Thomas Jefferson — arguably America’s greatest thinker — are on the chopping block, as are the contributions of other important figures not favored by the zealots on the Texas State Board of Education, like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall. (Who’s next? Martin Luther King? FDR?)
Texas is just ground zero for what is clearly a national effort. We need to make sure that whatever standards are adopted in Texas, they do not affect the social studies textbooks used by students in other states.
Please sign our petition to the major textbook publishers urging them to keep Texas standards in Texas and not to publish national textbooks based on Texas’ standards.
The Texas State Board of Education traditionally has tremendous power in determining the content of textbooks not only for Texas students but for students across the U.S. Texas reviews and adapts textbook standards for the major subjects every six years, and because of the size of the state’s market, textbook publishers often print books consistent with the Texas standards. Last year, they attracted national ridicule for trying to inject creationism into science textbooks. This year, they’re voting on social studies standards.
The right-wing majority on the State Board wants indoctrinate Texas students into this new perverse revisionist history. PFAW is supporting our allies on the ground in Texas who are working to make sure students have the chance to learn history as it occurred, not how the Far Right wish it had happened. But we need to do all we can to make sure this is not exported to other states and school districts as well. Help us take extremism out of textbook decision making and let our children learn the truth in the classroom.
Sign our petition to major textbook publishers urging them to keep Texas standards from spreading and not to offer Texas-style textbooks nationally by default.
Thank you for your activism and for your continued support of PFAW.
— Michael B. Keegan, President
Pass the word, will you?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Astrobiology, Economics, Education, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Social Studies, State school boards, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: Curriculum, Economics, Education, geography, History, People for the American Way, Politics, Social Studies, state board of education, TEKS, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 23, 2010
Texas isn’t the only state afflicted with people trying to gut social studies.
A Georgia legislator introduced a resolution to instruct the Georgia Supreme Court that our government is not a democracy, but is instead a republic.
See what the Texas State Board of Education wants to have happen?
Georgia House of Representatives H.R. 1770 (2010):
A RESOLUTION
Informing Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein that Georgia is a republic, not a democracy; recognizing the great differences between these two forms of government; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, on March 16, 2010, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein appeared before the Georgia General Assembly for the State of the Judiciary address, and in her speech Chief Justice Hunstein mistakenly called the State of Georgia a democracy; and
WHEREAS, the State of Georgia is, in fact, a republic and it is important that all Georgians know the difference between a republic and a democracy -– especially the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, the word “republic” comes from the Latin res publica, which means “the public thing” or “the law,” while the word “democracy” comes from the Greek words demos and kratein, which translates to “the people to rule”; and
WHEREAS, most synonymous with majority rule, democracy was condemned by the Founding Fathers of the United States, who closely studied the history of both democracies and republics before drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the Founding Fathers recognized that the rights given to man by God should not be violated by an unrestrained majority any more than they should be restrained by a king or monarch; and
WHEREAS, it is common knowledge that the Pledge of Allegiance contains the phrase “and to the Republic”; and
WHEREAS, as he exited the deliberations of the so-called Constitutional Convention of 1787, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin told the awaiting crowd they have “A republic, if you can keep it”; and
WHEREAS, a republic is a government of law, not of man, which is why the United States Constitution does not contain the word democracy and mandates that “the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”; and
WHEREAS, in 1928, the War Department of the United States defined democracy in Training Manual No. 2000–25 as a “government of the masses” which “[r]esults in mobocracy,” communistic attitudes to property rights, “demagogism, … agitation, discontent, [and] anarchy”; …
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body recognize the difference between a democracy and a republic and inform Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein that the State of Georgia is a republic and not a democracy….
Tip of the scrub brush to the Volokh Conspiracy, where you’ll find erudite and entertaining comment, and where Eugene Volokh wrote:
Now maybe this is just a deep inside joke, but if it’s meant to be serious then it strikes me as the worst sort of pedantry. (I distinguish this from my pedantry, which is the best sort of pedantry.)
Whatever government Georgia has, and whatever government the English language has, it is not government by ancient Romans, ancient Greeks, the War Department Training Manual, or even the Pledge of Allegiance. “Democracy” today includes, among other meanings, “Government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them (as in the small republics of antiquity) or by officers elected by them. In mod. use often more vaguely denoting a social state in which all have equal rights, without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege.” That’s from the Oxford English Dictionary, but if you prefer the American Heritage Dictionary, try “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.” Government by the people’s representatives is included within democracy, as is government by the people directly.
“Joke” is an accurate description, but one that escapes the sponsors and irritates the impedants on the Texas SBOE.
Gavel to Gavel offers the insight that this is the legislative response to an address to the legislature by Georgia’s Chief Justice.
When legislatures have too much time on their hands, and engage in such hystrionics, one wonders whether the legislature wouldn’t be better off left in the dark by not inviting the views of the Chief Justice in the future. Perhaps the Chief Justice should decline any invitation offered.
What we now know is that some Georgia legislators are all het up about the difference between a republic and a democracy, though I’ll wager none of them could pass an AP world history or European history quiz on Rome and Greece. And what is really revealed is that some Georgia legislators don’t know their burros from a burrow.
You can also be sure of this: Such action is exactly what the so-called conservatives on the Texas SBOE wish to have happen from their diddling of social studies standards.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
5 Comments | Government, Law, Legislation, Legislatures, Rampant stupidity, State school boards, Texas, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Constitutional Law, Democracy, Georgia, Government, History, House of Representatives, Rampant stupidity, Republic not a Democracy, Supreme Courts | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 18, 2010
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News, March 17, 2010 - Texas education board cuts Enlightenment from curriculum
Signe Wilkinson cartoons for the Philadelphia Daily News. She won a Pulitzer for political cartoons in 1992, the first woman to win that award (about time!).
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Cartoons, Education, Education quality, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas | Tagged: Cartoons, Curriculum, Education, Enlightenment, Political cartoons, Politics, Social Studies, state board of education, State Standards, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 17, 2010
Mike Luckovich on Texas education board gutting social studies standards, March 18 or 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I found this brilliant Mike Luckovich cartoon from March 18, just in time for the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, and the anniversity of Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” What will SBOE members be reading for poetry to their kids, on April 18?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Education, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas | Tagged: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Education, History Revisionism, Mike Luckovich, Social Studies Standards, state board of education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 11, 2010
Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Toles in the Washington Post, March 19, 2010
It’s pretty embarrassing when the State Board of Education’s actions leave Texas open to jokes about whether Texans remember the Alamo. Remembering the Alamo is as much a Texas monument or icon as anything else — maybe moreso.
Tom Toles demonstrates why Texas should be embarrassed by the Texas State Board of Education’s work on social studies standards.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Cartoons, Education, Education assessment, History, Political cartoons, Politics, State school boards, TAKS, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: Cartoons, Education, History, Political cartoons, Politics, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas, Tom Toles | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 11, 2010
Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times-Free Press, March 16, 2010
Bennett remains one of my favorite cartoonists today. His work is incisive, intelligent, and persuasive to the side of reason and light almost all of the time. Why hasn’t he won a Pulitzer yet?
Bennett is generally a powerful supporter of U.S. education; see the two other recent cartoons, below the fold.
Read the rest of this entry »
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
3 Comments | Cartoons, Economics, Education, Education reform, History, Political cartoons, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas | Tagged: Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Clay Bennett, Economics, Education, History, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 10, 2010
Nick Anderson in Houston Chronicle, April 2, 2010
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Education, Education quality, History, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: Education, education standards, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas, Thomas Jefferson | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
April 10, 2010
Cartoon by Mario Piperni on the Texas State Board of Education, on any number of subjects
Have never seen this guy’s work before. Does he publish in a newspaper that is lucky to have him?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Cartoons, History, Political cartoons, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Texas history | Tagged: Cartoons, History, Political cartoons, Social Studies, Texas, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 31, 2010
Nick Anderson of the Houston Chronicle on Texas SBOE social studies standards, in 2009
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | Accuracy, Cartoons, Economics, Education, Education quality, History, Political cartoons, Politics, Separation of church and state, Social Studies, State school boards, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: Accuracy, Cartoons, Education, education standards, History, Houston Chronicle, Nick Anderson, Political cartoons, Politics, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 31, 2010
Ben Sargent, Austin American-Statesman (GoComics) March 17, 2010
(I first saw a Ben Sargent cartoon published in the Daily Utah Chronicle in about 1974. 35 years of great stuff from that guy. He officially retired from the Austin American-Statesman in 2009, running one cartoon a week now.)
Tip of the old scrub brush, again, to Steven Schafersman and What Would Jack Do.
Also note this January cartoon from Sargent:
Texas State Board of Education social studies curricula - Ben Sargent, Austin American-Statesman, January 24, 2010
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Education, Education quality, History, History Revisionism, Political cartoons, Politics, Separation of church and state, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas | Tagged: Ben Sargent, Education, education standards, Political cartoons, Social Studies, state board of education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 31, 2010
John Sherffius, one of my favorite editorial cartoonists, laid out the problem in his cartoon of March 18:
John Sherffius, Boulder Daily Camera, March 18, 2010
You may purchase a copy of the cartoon — or the original — here.
SBOE isn’t exactly asking that the Bible be rewritten — or at least, not directly. Suggesting we replace Thomas Jefferson as a founder with John Calvin in high school standards, is just as silly.
Tip of the old scrub brush to What Would Jack Do, “Lone Star Laughing Stock,” and Steven Schafersman.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
5 Comments | Capitalism, Economics, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas history | Tagged: Economics Revisionism, Geography Revisionism, History Revisionism, Lone Star Laughing Stock, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies Standards, Texas, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 