Posted on 07/18/2002 2:37:08 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
An example of some of the problems, she said, was a reference in a sixth-grade textbook claiming that socialism and communism were good for all citizens. "We believe strongly that those are failed systems ... and that sixth-grade students need that explained to them," she said.
AUSTIN -- Some simply want Texas towns, rivers and regions marked correctly when mentioned in school textbooks. Others find the scant references to women's rights -- and other civil right struggles -- deplorable.
And then there are those who seek the inclusion of little-known facts so obscure and trivial -- such as San Antonio supplying meat to patriots during the American Revolution -- that they are probably better suited for a board game about trivia than a young Texan's mind.
Throughout Wednesday, teachers, citizen groups and public citizens sounded off on what they thought should be included in social studies textbooks during a hearing before the State Board of Education.
"Citizens have pretty much been asleep at the wheel. We've complained a lot after the fact, but only a few citizens have over the years rolled up their sleeves, reviewed the textbooks and weighed in," said Peggy Venable of Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy.
Concerns ranged from omissions to misrepresentations, especially about the cultural, political and racial landscape of the state.
Texas, which has about 4.1 million students in its public school system, adopts new social studies books every eight years. The state will spend $344.7 million on the textbooks, which will be used in classrooms in 2003.
The elected State Board of Education has no say over textbook content but can reject books because of errors or failure to follow the state curriculum. The board is scheduled to make its final decisions in November.
Tony Bonilla, a Corpus Christi attorney and former League of United Latin American Citizens president, said state history textbooks were "woefully inadequate" when it came to depicting the role Hispanics played in state and national history.
The list for public testimony included a contingent from the University of Texas-Brownsville that left the Rio Grande Valley at 3 a.m. to attend Wednesday's hearing.
Venable said her group is focusing on ensuring that textbooks teach patriotism, free market and democracy in a favorable light. During the last round of hearings, her group sought the rejection of one textbook, but will not make such recommendations this year.
An example of some of the problems, she said, was a reference in a sixth-grade textbook claiming that socialism and communism were good for all citizens.
"We believe strongly that those are failed systems ... and that sixth-grade students need that explained to them," she said.
I found the following article and see that they are trying to ban the books in California schools because they "promote religion" in book number 2 on the history of the Colonies. Now how do you teach about the 13 original Colonies without bringing in religion?
A History of US subjects students to religious indoctrination A History of US is a series of eleven American-history books published by Oxford University Press. Oxford promotes and sells them as schoolbooks. In each of the first ten books of the series, the author shown on the title page is Joy Hakim. The eleventh book is anonymous.
Book 2 of A History of US is titled Making Thirteen Colonies, and it purports to cover American history during the period 1600 through 1740. This book has no place in any public school because it is spiked with religious preaching: Joy Hakim employs Making Thirteen Colonies as a platform for promoting her personal religious beliefs, for falsely depicting religious myths as matters of historical fact, and for subjecting students to religious indoctrination. A detailed analysis of Hakim's preaching in Making Thirteen Colonies has appeared in The Textbook Letter, as part of an article titled "Textbook-Writers Promote Religious Tales as 'History'."
In August 2001, The Textbook League learned that the California State Board of Education had approved and adopted Making Thirteen Colonies (and all the rest of the A History of US series) for use in public-school classrooms. The League then sent a letter to the California Board to demonstrate that Making Thirteen Colonies -- because it promoted a specific body of religious beliefs and thus elevated one religion to a place of privilege above all other religions -- was unacceptable as a schoolbook. In the same letter, the League petitioned the Board to revoke the adoption of A History of US, and to take other corrective actions, so that California students would be protected from any further exposure to Hakim's bogus "history."
Especially the 10 million Josef Stalin murdered in pursuit of his socialist utopia. And the additional millions slaughtered by Pol Pot, Mao Tse-Tung, and Fidel Castro in "evolving" from successful, 20th-century nations into backwaters of horror, stagnation, and entropy.
And then there are those who seek the inclusion of little-known facts so obscure and trivial -- such as San Antonio supplying meat to patriots during the American Revolution -- that they are probably better suited for a board game about trivia than a young Texan's mind.
I was moved out of Texas for much of my schooling (I did attend down here for my last 2 years of high school). I'm aware that there is a generally a course in Texas History. Not so unusual because I had a course in Ohio history when I lived in Ohio.
The detail concerning San Antonio and the American Revolution may be of little consequence in a course on the American Revolution but it does establish a reference point for what was going on in land that became Texas at the time. People should know about their state just as they should know about their country. That Texas was first established as a nation before it joined the Union should be given some reflection.
Should Texas be a part of the studies in the Civil War since the major battles were fought along the East?
Why don't the panels that select the books or legislators establish a list of criteria for the books so that future authors can include relevant details in the appropriate texts?
I don't envy anyone the task of reading multiple textbooks but the review and selection process is important.
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.