From today’s TFN News Clips: “If what we were doing in the classrooms was that liberal, the state of Texas would be a liberal state because we’ve all been teaching for many, many years. I don’t see any evidence that Texas is a liberal state.” — Deborah Pennington, social studies coordinator for the Conroe Independent […]
social studies
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 […]
The War on Neil Armstrong
Once again, the Texas affiliate of the far-right group Focus on the Family is having trouble getting its facts straight. This week the group is criticizing “the media and Austin liberals” for “distorting” the debate over the State Board of Education’s revision of social studies curriculum standards for public schools. The group is urging that […]
Sen. Shapleigh to SBOE: Skating on Thin Ice
Think Texas lawmakers forgot about the State Board of Education after this year’s legislative session came to a close on June 1? Don’t bet on it. Republican legislative leaders might have stopped efforts to reform the state board during the session, but the state board has done plenty since then to remind lawmakers why those […]
Important Progress
Today’s State Board of Education hearing on proposed new social studies standards for Texas public schools was long and often exhausting. (Scroll down to find our blog posts from the hearing.) But we noted some important progress for ensuring that our schoolchildren get an honest and sound education. In particular, David Barton and Peter Marshall […]
