Who knew that all the world’s best climate scientists and their research could be proven wrong by a fringe political activist from Minnesota? We told you in May that Don McLeroy, still chair of the Texas State Board of Education at the time, wanted to appoint to the social studies curriculum “expert panel” a political activist […]
Textbook Censorship
The Texas State Board of Education decides what every student in Texas public schools will learn from kindergarten through high school. The board does so by adopting curriculum standards and textbooks for public schools in the state.
For decades, far-right politicians on the State Board of Education and their extremist allies have taken advantage of this flawed system to dismiss the advice of experts and scholars. They have instead worked to inject their personal views into textbooks on everything from evolution and climate change to the history of slavery, civil rights, and separation of church and state.
Resources
- Report Reveals Serious Flaws in Social Studies Textbooks
- The State Board of Education: Dragging Texas Schools into the Culture Wars (2008 report)
- Evolution, Creationism & Public Schools: Surveying Texas Scientists (2008 report)
- Culture Wars and the Classroom (2010 report)
- Senate Bill 6: Changes in the Textbook Adoption Process (2011 report)
- Texas Science Curriculum Standards: Challenges (2012 report)
- Science Textbook Review (2013 report)
- Social Studies Textbook Review (2014 report)
SBOE Right-Wingers in a Snit
At their meeting in Austin yesterday, far-right members of the Texas State Board of Education complained that the news media had blown out of proportion calls by conservative “expert” curriculum reviewers (appointed by those board members) to remove liberal historical figures like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from social studies curriculum standards. Terri Leo, R-Spring, and her […]
A ‘War for the Soul of America’
So says Peter Marshall, a supposed social studies “expert” helping revise curriculum standards for Texas public schools. The far-right evangelical minister from Massachusetts, appointed to an “expert” panel by social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal in a story this week about the ongoing curriculum revision: “We’re […]
Oh no they didn’t!
How much do you know about the far-right bloc on the Texas State Board of Education? Take the TFN Quiz and find out! Then share the link with your friends and help spread the word about radicalism on the state board. […]
‘Worst Person in the World’ – Texas Edition
Popular MSNBC host Keith Olbermann turned his withering gaze to Texas last Friday, excoriating Governor Rick Perry for even considering public school-hater Cynthia Dunbar for chair of the state’s Board of Education. Dunbar’s outlandish comments landed the governor the top spot on Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” list. You won’t want to miss this […]
