Posted on 09/02/2003 6:35:19 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Reductions in funding leaves schools with outdated textbooks
AUSTIN Texas history teachers this year won't have to use antiquated textbooks that name Dan Morales as attorney general. After all, the state's former top legal official is headed to federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion charges.
Other textbooks won't be as current.
Despite pleas from the state Board of Education, the Legislature cut textbook funding by $182 million this year. As the school year begins, some books are as many as 14 years old, and gaffes in accuracy are inevitable.
For example: the Food and Drug Administration now recommends two to three servings of dairy a day, but outdated health books still recommend four daily dairy servings.
Jim Hutchinson, a high school health teacher in Bastrop, said recent strides in research and health care have turned numerous truths into fallacies.
"In the AIDS and HIV chapter, treatments were so limited at the time the book was written there were just three possible treatments. Now there are probably hundreds," Hutchinson said
The history revisionists can't do their magic on an older textbook.
For example: the Food and Drug Administration now recommends two to three servings of dairy a day, but outdated health books still recommend four daily dairy servings.
"In the AIDS and HIV chapter, treatments were so limited at the time the book was written there were just three possible treatments. Now there are probably hundreds," Hutchinson said.
These are te two best "fallacies" they could come up with. Nanny government telling kids how much milk to drink and how to treat the AIDS they will get if the perform any of the recommendations from their health class.....
Simple enough solution.
The media and the RATs are using this as an excuse to blame the Republicans and the governor for the redistricting issue. All the BS is about the fact that the RATs are in "self-imposed exile" to block that issue, and the school funding bill died.
Does this statement strike anyone else as bogus? How can a textbook last 14 years in the hands of public school students.
During my days as a student in Texas, we were given books at the beginning of the year and instructed to sign our name and school year in the appropriate blank on a stamped form in the front of the book. Books that lasted down through line 5 or 6 yearly blanks (forget the actual maximum) were so beaten up they were often held together with tape with torn and marked pages, etc., etc. I can't imagine a book lasting 14 years with that sort of use.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.