One of the many controversial changes the Texas State Board of Education made to proposed social studies curriculum standards this year was requiring that students learn about Phyllis Schlafly’s role in a “conservative resurgence” in the 1980s and 1990s. Schlafly, the head of the far-right group Eagle Forum, rose to political prominence by attacking the […]
social studies
Coming Soon to Texas Classrooms?
We continue to marvel at the nostalgia some — such as certain members of the Texas State Board of Education — seem to have for the Confederacy of the American Civil War. This is 2010, after all. Isn’t it about time to let go of the misguided notion of the “Lost Cause”? This nostalgia, after all, is the […]
TEA Posts Final Social Studies Standards
From a TFN e-mail to supporters of our Just Educate campaign this morning: The Texas Education Agency has finally posted on its website the new social studies curriculum standards for public schools. Click here to read the new standards approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) on May 21 for kindergarten to Grade 5, […]
Why Does Ken Mercer Hate America?
We think that’s a fair question. After all, by his own reasoning, Texas State Board of Education member Ken Mercer must be an anti-American, anti-veteran leftist. And what is that reasoning? Earlier this month the Houston Chronicle interviewed Mercer, a San Antonio Republican, about the state board’s revision of social studies curriculum standards for public schools. […]
Pwned! TFN Pres Smacks Down Distortions
One of the most frustrating things during the long debate over proposed new social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools was watching far-right pressure groups get away with distorting the truth about what was really happening. Among the worst distortions: pressure groups like Plano-based Liberty Institute, the Texas affiliate of Focus on the Family, […]