Posted on 12/27/2005 8:36:35 AM PST by kindred
State's Rejection of 'Left-Leaning' Textbook Not Censorship, Says Attorney
By Jim Brown December 27, 2005
(AgapePress) - A constitutional attorney is hailing a recent decision by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Texas high school student and the author of a science textbook that some conservatives says is riddled with errors.
The suit alleged that the Texas Board of Education had violated the free-speech clause of the First Amendment when it refused to approve an environmental science textbook for state funding. But the Fifth Circuit held that there was not First Amendment right at issue. According to Steve Crampton, chief counsel with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, when a textbook is selected and then implemented in a state school system, it becomes the public speech of the state itself -- not the private speech of the author.
"What you have is really a left-leaning textbook author who was suggesting that the root cause of environmental problems is economic growth," says Crampton, adding that in his opinion the state was right when it "rejected that view and ... said that's just not the view we want to promote to our students."
Although the plaintiffs argued the state school board was in violation of the Supreme Court's 1988 Hazelwood decision against viewpoint discrimination, the attorney notes the Hazelwood ruling does not apply in this case.
"It's not a censorship kind of issue. It's not saying that your book can't be taught," he explains. "It's merely saying we're not going to pay for it with our tax money if we disagree fundamentally with the approach that it takes on a given issue. That's wholly appropriate."
Crampton says the ruling is a victory for conservatives and those who favor a "common-sense approach" to the textbook selection process.
Ping
Texas approval is crucial to the success of a textbook. I deplore the intrusion of judges on the selection of texts and curriculum.
"(1.) Economic growth is bad.
(2.) The economy is bad and it's all Bush's fault."
You can't win with those dummies.
A tiny step for academic honesty. So very, very far to go in the Stalinist helholes of American education, particularly at the university level.
Yeah, just leave it up to the teachers.
"I deplore the intrusion of judges on the selection of texts and curriculum."
Then tell the authors not to sue when Texax decides it doesn't want one of their textbooks in the schools.
Texax = Texas
Sorry!
You'd better be sorry!
They've even got bumper stickers down here that say "Don't Mess With Texas!" And they got the guns to back it up!
(just kidding, I'm from Texas and even I make miss stakes sumtimes.) Sometimes I tell my friends (in email) that I'm from Tex Ass.
Texas is one of the major states that educational publishers (McGraw-Hill, Pearson, McDougal-Litell,SRA, etc) target in what is called the adoption process.
This process involves the publishers submitting their curricula to state boards. The state board approves or reject them. Only those approved my be used by the local districts in that state.
I am not sure if it works that way in every state. But, I work in the printing industry; and TEXAS ADOPTION is a big flag that gets top priority.
This is one reason why my kid goes to a private school.
"You'd better be sorry!
They've even got bumper stickers down here that say "Don't Mess With Texas!" And they got the guns to back it up! "
Ooopss!
LOL!
:0)
It's also the reason many parents home school.
"... the root cause of environmental problems is economic growth,"
In advanced economies, economic growth = decreasing environmental impact.
The objective facts, which should appear in any textbook, are that as the economy grows: air quality improves; water quality improves; energy consumption decreases; forested area increases; threatened species rebound; greenhouse gases decrease; consumption of resources decreases; parkland increases; people live longer and healthier lives.
This it trivial, but I think you are partially incorrect. The way I understand it, is that a school can use any book they see fit, but if it's not on the TEA adoption list, the school has to buy the book with their own funding, instead of using state funds. My wife is a teacher, and that's how I understand it from listening to her. I could very well be wrong though.
It's a good thing that the local boards can do this.
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