Propaganda vs. Truth

The right-wing propaganda machine has kicked into high gear over the past two weeks in defense of the State Board of Education‘s mutilation of proposed new social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools. A blizzard of press releases, blog posts and viral e-mails have claimed that the “liberal media” has unfairly criticized the board’s politicization […]

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What’s Going on in Virginia?

Virginia seems to be challenging Texas for which state’s elected officials pander the most to the far right. In his first three months in office, for example, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell rescinded an order barring state employment discrimination against gay people and issued a proclamation honoring the Confederacy that failed to mention slavery, the […]

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Getting in Touch with ‘Their Inner Children’

The political jousting between Bill White and Rick Perry over the Texas State Board of Education‘s controversial revision of social studies curriculum standards is legitimate in the electoral arena. It’s certainly preferable to dragging political agendas into our children’s classrooms, which the state board has been doing during the curriculum revision. But what the Republican Party of Texas did […]

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Is This about ‘Payback’ or Education?

We noted this morning that Robert Scott, the Texas education commissioner, told state legislators at a Capitol public hearing that changes the Texas State Board of Education is making to proposed social studies curriculum standards reflect a change in political control of the board in recent years. (A far-right faction took control of the state […]

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Dodge and Stonewall

At the legislative hearing this morning about the Texas State Board of Education, Robert Scott, the state’s education commissioner, just told lawmakers that he’s proud of the board’s “open process” for developing curriculum standards. The Texas Education Agency and state board have received thousands of written comments about the social studies standards, he said. And […]

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