Rehabilitating Joseph McCarthy?

To the abundant evidence showing that ideologues and non-historians shouldn’t be deciding what students learn in their history classrooms, add another exhibit: far-right efforts to use our kids’ classrooms to rehabilitate the image of  Joseph McCarthy and turn him into an American hero. Sadly, that’s what some members of the Texas State Board of Education and […]

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Talking Points

From today’s TFN News Clips: “Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression, and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged. I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize, and celebrate the lives and gifts of […]

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More McLeroy Malarkey, Part 2

Last week, we brought you some choice selections from cryptic, hand-scribbled memos Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy wrote to curriculum writers preparing the latest draft of social studies standards (“More McLeroy Malarkey, Part 1”).  Here is Part 2. To the “World History Studies” writing team, McLeroy suggests a few additions to the […]

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Ethics Complaints Target Texas SBOE Members

An Austin-based ethics watchdog filed complaints Monday with the Texas Ethics Commission against two State Board of Education members for not disclosing gifts they reportedly received from a firm seeking investment business with the board. The complaints filed by Texans for Public Justice urged the commission to determine whether Rick Agosto, D-San Antonio, and Rene Nuñez, D-El […]

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Bigotry and Cathie Adams

It’s hard to know how long will it take for State Republican Executive Committee members to realize how foolish they were to appoint Cathie Adams as chair of the Texas GOP this past weekend. After all, SREC members won’t be able to say they are “surprised” when Ms. Adams takes another flying leap off the rhetorical […]

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