USA Today, March 12, 2010
The Texas State Board of Education agreed to new social studies standards on Friday after the far-right faction wielded its power to shape the lessons that will be taught to millions of students on American history, the U.S. free enterprise system, religion and other topics.
In a vote of 10-5, the board preliminarily adopted the new curriculum after days of charged debate marked by race and politics. In dozens of smaller votes passed over the three days, the ultra-conservatives who dominate the board nixed all but a few efforts to recognize the diversity of race and religion in Texas.
{snip}
As part of the new curriculum, the elected board—made up of lawyers, a dentist and a weekly newspaper publisher among others—rejected an attempt to ensure that children learn why the U.S. was founded on the principle of religious freedom.
But, it agreed to strengthen nods to Christianity by adding references to “laws of nature and nature’s God” to a section in U.S. history that requires students to explain major political ideas.
They also agreed to strike the word “democratic” in references to the form of U.S. government, opting instead to call it a “constitutional republic.”
{snip}
Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement that already includes country music.
{snip}
Over the past three days, the board also argued over how historic periods should be classified (still B.C. and A.D., rather than B.C.E. and C.E.); whether or not students should be required to explain the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on global politics (they will); and whether former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir should be required learning (she will).
Numerous attempts to add the names or references to important Hispanics throughout history also were denied, inducing one amendment that would specify that Tejanos died at the Alamo alongside Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.
A day earlier, longtime board member Mary Helen Berlanga accused her colleagues of “whitewashing” the standards and walked out of the panel’s meeting in frustration. Berlanga voted against the standards on Friday.
Berlanga also bristled when the board approved an amendment that deletes a requirement that sociology students “explain how institutional racism is evident in American society.”
{snip}
In Texas alone, the board’s decisions will set guideposts for teaching history and social studies to some 4.8 million K-12 students during the next 10 years. In almost six hours of public testimony on Wednesday, the board heard repeated pleas that the Christian heritage of the U.S. be reflected in the new standards as well as other requests that students learn more Hispanic examples of prominent historic figures.
Original article
(Posted on March 15, 2010)
Comments
Well, kiddos, is it any wonder that white and Asian parents who can, homeschool their kids? Or send them to private schools? But even private schools often use the Texas standards, right alongside their religion classes that are required. So in my mind, homeschooling is the best option (and I’m a former teacher in a public school in Ontario, CA). My own family members homeschool their kids, and every single one is ahead - one by YEARS - of his/her grade level. And, BTW, there IS a way to homeschool your kids but still have them participate in athletics or music at a public school if you desire that; it’s good for the prodigies and jocks, so they can earn scholarships to universities.
Great. All our institutions that practice affirmative action and trumpet ‘diversity’ are officially no longer institutionaly racist.
Ms. Berlanga is Hispanic. Of course, we already knew that…
http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/03/how_sboes_whitewash_of_history.html
Are we going to remain complicit in our own ethnic cleansing/genocide?
I can understand why a lot of radical Hispanic groups are opposed to including Golda Meir in the criteria — She showed how you deal with troublesome irredentist minorities.
I live in Texas. It’s a place where more than half of Blacks and Nonwhite Hispanics fail to even graduate high school. When they do, it’s often under lowered standards.
When both of those groups can lower those drop out rates, perhaps people will start listening to them.
“In a vote of 10-5, the board preliminarily adopted the new curriculum after days of charged debate marked by race and politics. In dozens of smaller votes passed over the three days, the ultra-conservatives who dominate the board nixed all but a few efforts to recognize the diversity of race and religion in Texas.”
How utterly laughable; shouldn’t that last sentence read: “ In dozens of smaller votes passed over the three days, the non-zombified humans who dominate the board nixed all but a few efforts to recognize diversity as the state religion of Texas.”
Enough said, other than, God help us all!
“Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement that already includes country music.”
Hip hop is degrading, dangerous and violent.
Whenever I see clean cut, correct speaking afrovoodoos on my TV, which is too often, I always correct my inputs by visiting hip hop weekly dot com and thugreport dot com to see what real African Americans look like and are up to.
I see a lot of posters saying that homeschooling is better than the Marxist run public school system. It probablty is. But they should at least TRY to change how public schools are run . One way is to pay close attention to the candidates for the school boards, and vote for the ones that will promote a decently run school system.
Traditionalist are called: far-right and ultra-conservative. USA Today wouldn’t be a bit biased, would they?
Media bias, indeed. If there was a 10-5 liberal majority on the board and it was making textbooks more “politically correct,” then that would be just fine. The mainstream media just can’t stand it when the traditionalists win one, can they?
“Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement that already includes country music.”
“A significant cultural movement” has to be deeply embedded in the culture….like country and western music….not a gangster-oriented chant that is the product of a small percentage of the population most of which are its criminals.
If blacks had the intelligence to see, which they don’t, they would understand that anything so ignorant as hip hop does nothing more than cast a bad light on blacks in general, like ebonics which exemplifies their lack of intelligence as well.
Ms. Berlanga is Hispanic. Of course, we already knew that…
Berlanga also bristled when the board approved an amendment that deletes a requirement that sociology students “explain how institutional racism is evident in American society.”
The scary thing is that we can be sure that all public schools outside of Texas are now teaching their children about the bogeyman of “institutional racism”. In a nutshell this is the theory that if for any reason at all a black or Hispanic person fails it is all whitey’s fault.
Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement that already includes country music.
Good grief. If you want to include jazz or even Motown as significant cultural achievements by blacks you can make a case, but rap ? That would be like including death metal as a significant white cultural achievement, and I bet that’s not in the textbooks. (There may be some death metal fans on this board but I bet even they wouldn’t try to argue that it belongs in the classroom curriculum.)
It is a fact that the United States is supposed to be a constitutional republic. The founding fathers were very wary of the grab fest that would result from a pure democracy. Given the disaster that is our current government, they have been proven right.
There are some parts of the conservatives’ program that I disagree with. While conventional history books have understated the role that Christianity has played in the founding and development of this country, it is also true that this country was founded on a principle of religious freedom. And yes, evolution happens. I wish the fundamentalists would grow up about that.
To Anonymous post #2:
Exactly!
“…the board approved an amendment that deletes a requirement that sociology students ‘explain how institutional racism is evident in American society.’”
The school board may have missed a golden opportunity to have students ponder the social, historical, legal, political, cultural, educational, and personal implications of government-enforced integration.
Maybe the board should just re-examine the definition of “institutional racism” rather than prohibit its discussion in sociology class.
A day earlier, longtime board member Mary Helen Berlanga accused her colleagues of “whitewashing” the standards and walked out of the panel’s meeting in frustration. Berlanga voted against the standards on Friday.
For decades leftists and their la razist cohorts have bullied and intimidated others. But the second Berlanga doesn’t get her way she throws a tantrum (and a little racial barb ie “whitewashing”) and storms out. Well, good riddens!
I did, however, notice that USA Today was nice enough to load their article with inflammatory terms such as the board being “dominated” by a “far-right faction” and “ultra-conservatives”. Maybe this is why so many newspapers are going broke. And as far as I’m concerned USA Today can join them.
My sons’ 8th grade history(social studies)book is absolutely full of references to how racism is so ‘ingrained’ in our policies and politics throughout our history. So right out of the gate our children are taught that American ideals,our society and our very culture is a ‘bad system’ that needs to be corrected.There are entire chapters devoted to the glorious “Dr King” Even a favorable reference to the black panthers. Now these uber libs want to include hip hop as a significant cultural contribution to American society? I’d laugh,but it’s not a bit funny. They want my son to be ashamed of his heritage and of his own people.While everyone else is taught to be super proud of who they are and of their many great accomplishments.
So the “the ultra-conservatives who dominate the board nixed all but a few efforts to recognize the diversity of race and religion in Texas”… Good to see that the ULTRA-liberals didn’t prevail.
The idea has always been to get to the youth early when they are presumed to be more susceptible to brainwashing. That’s why those with agendas beyond reading and math always try to get involved in the field of education. Schools are the battleground, the children are the plunder.
I was upset with some of the changes until I read the bit about institutional racism and hip hop, makes the John Calvin change entirely tolerable(I have nothing against Calvin, but I feel that Thomas Jefferson deserves a bit more space than him).
”They also agreed to strike the word “democratic” in references to the form of U.S. government, opting instead to call it a “constitutional republic.””
How is this anything but factually accurate?
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