When the State Board of Education debated new social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools in 2009-10, tea partyers and other far-right activists complained about what they saw as an overemphasis on slavery in classes about U.S. history. They argued that attention paid to the history of slavery in America is too negative and […]
social studies adoption (2014)
A Teachable Moment for the Texas State Board of Education
Four American presidents are coming to Austin this week for the Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus. The event, which lasts from Tuesday to Thursday, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This anniversary year is, as educators say, a […]
Texas Textbook Activist Insists Civil Rights Successes Led to 'Burning and Looting,' Slavery Was a Minor Cause of Civil War
Another sign that the social studies textbook adoption in Texas this year is going to be messy: A political activist who helped write new curriculum standards for the state’s public schools in 2009 is insisting that new textbooks under consideration this year should promote his revisionist views on issues such as slavery and the Civil […]
Don't Let Right-Wing Activists Rewrite American History
Publishers will submit textbooks in April for all socials studies and history courses from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Grades K-5 Social Studies Middle School Courses World Cultures and Geography Texas History U.S. History to 1877 High School Courses World Geography World History Sociology U.S. History since 1877 U.S. Government Economics Psychology We want to remind […]
Are Anti-Muslim Activists Targeting Next Year’s Social Studies Textbook Adoption in Texas?
With the science textbook adoption mostly behind them, State Board of Education (SBOE) members are turning their attention to next year’s adoption of new social studies textbooks for Texas public schools. And we’re already seeing right-wing activists preparing to turn that adoption into another “culture war” battleground. Circulating among tea party and other right-wing activists in […]
