SBOE Politics as Usual: Textbook Review Once Again Plagued by Lack of Expertise

The Texas State Board of Education will vote in November on new social studies textbooks that will be in Texas classrooms for the next decade. Earlier this month, official state review panels met in Austin to vet those books. As we did during the science textbook adoption process last year, the Texas Freedom Network researched who got appointed to the social studies panels this summer. We just sent the following press release describing what we found — the news isn’t encouraging.

When you’re done reading, head to tfn.org/history to sign the petition calling for classroom materials that offer an honest, accurate portrayal of history and are free of political agendas.

A Texas Freedom Network analysis has revealed that numerous qualified scholars were bypassed for appointment to official state panels assigned to review proposed social studies textbooks for Texas public schools this year. Equally shocking, individuals with no qualifications in a relevant field or teaching experience got places on the panels.

State Board of Education (SBOE) members nominated many of the unqualified reviewers. In one instance the chair of the SBOE facilitated the appointment of a Texas House candidate who argues against separation of church and state.

“This is just the latest example of how a flawed process opens the door to ideologues who can have enormous influence on textbook adoptions and, ultimately, what students learn in our public schools,” TFN President Kathy Miller said. “It’s especially stunning that so few faculty members at our state’s institutions of higher education got appointments to the review panels.”

TFN analyzed panels assigned to review textbooks for courses such as U.S. and world history, geography and economics. Out of more than 140 individuals appointed to the panels, only three are current faculty members at Texas colleges and universities. TFN has identified more than a dozen other Texas academics – including the chair of the History Department at Southern Methodist University as well as faculty at the University of Texas at Austin – who applied to serve but did not get appointments to the panels.

But the TFN analysis found that political activists and individuals without social studies degrees or teaching experience got places on the panels. One reviewer, Mark Keough, a Republican nominee for the Texas House District 15 seat, got an appointment to a U.S. History panel after being nominated by SBOE chair Barbara Cargill. Keough, a pastor with degrees in theology, has no teaching experience listed on his application form. Keough recently retired from a career in car sales to run a ministry in Cargill’s hometown of The Woodlands and to run for office.

In an interview conducted prior to this year’s primary elections, Keough told the Montgomery County Tea Party that he does not “believe that there is a separation of church and state in the Constitution.”

While Miller said it was encouraging to see many teachers on the panels, she criticized Cargill’s appointment of a politician running in this year’s elections: “Will she report his nomination as an in-kind contribution to his campaign?”

“It is amazing that missing from these panels are many faculty members from our best universities who were willing to serve,” Miller added. “Yet someone like Mr. Keough, who denies the existence of one of our country’s most important principles, is granted a platform he could use to play politics with the education of millions of Texas schoolchildren.”

The review panels met in Austin earlier this month to vet new social studies textbooks submitted by publishers for use in Texas public schools. The SBOE will vote in November on whether to adopt those textbooks. But the board could pressure publishers to make changes to the books based on the input from the review panels.

If approved, the textbooks could be in Texas classrooms for the next decade.

6 thoughts on “SBOE Politics as Usual: Textbook Review Once Again Plagued by Lack of Expertise

  1. Really, there is no oversight of the Board?

    Why don’t we just turn education over to the ICR and Barton and be done with it.

  2. “TFN analyzed panels assigned to review textbooks for courses such as U.S. and world history, geography and economics. Out of more than 140 individuals appointed to the panels, only three are current faculty members at Texas colleges and universities.”

    Stunning isn’t it? Texas SBOE paves the road to Stupidville.

  3. I agree entirely with this post — except for four words, ‘free of political agendas.’ Our position is, in itself, a ‘political agenda’ a very praiseworthy one, and one we should be working, politically, to accomplish.

    In fact, one reason this is worth ‘nit-picking’ about is because I am very tired of seeing ‘politics’ used only as a negative ‘buzz-word.’ Politics is an important and praiseworthy activity, one which we are involved in, and the way in which we will achieve our goals. We shouldn’t be ashamed to admit that it is what we are doing.

    Our goals are in themselves, ;political statements.’ Yes, we may consider them as so obvious that it should not need political action to accomplish them — but that is our error.

    Saying ‘students should be taught what is/was true, instead of what our religious beliefs tell us ‘should be/should have been true’ is making a political statement. Saying that the most important qualification for selecting what should be taught is knowledge of the subject, and experience in teaching the subject, rather than ‘moral righteousness’ as defined by a particular religion is also a political statement. As is ‘students should be taught what has actually happened — even if it puts the previous generation or generations in a bad light’ instead of ‘students should be taught a less accurate version of the facts rather than being taught things that will cause them to have less respect for the wisdom of their elders.’

    All of these are statements I wholeheartedly agree with, yes, but they are also goals that we will only reach by willing elections, that is, but acting politically. Let’s ‘glory’ in this rather than acting like ‘being political’ is something, somehow, to be ashamed of.

    1. No. This is not about politics. This is about truth and who is willing to stand up for it.

      George A. Custer is a hero to the extreme right. That is politics.

      George A. Custer was an incompetent jerk who got all his men killed. That is truth.

  4. The textbook committee is anti-education and seems to be determined to make a laughingstock of Texas education.
    For the sake of our future, we must change this panel.