On Sunday, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, posted on his Facebook page to ask his followers to report to him about teachers who use CSCOPE in their lessons. Here’s TFN’s response, as issued to the press this morning. Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller is calling on state Sen. Dan Patrick, the Houston Republican who chairs […]
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)
Told You So: Anti-CSCOPE Fanatics See a New Dragon to Slay
We already told you that the political activists who promoted the witch hunt that appears to have gutted the CSCOPE curriculum tool were already turning their attention to new targets. Well, check out this new post on the blog “Red Hot Conservative” written by Ginger Russell, one of the most vocal CSCOPE critics. What’s got […]
Texas AG Greg Abbott Brags About Helping a Witch Hunt Undermine Local Control in Texas Schools
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s is engaged in an awfully cynical and abusive game. Now the state’s chief law enforcement officer is actually bragging that “we beat back CSCOPE,” referring to a decision by the state’s Education Service Centers to eliminate a key component of a program 877 school districts — nearly 80 percent of […]
What Monday's CSCOPE Decision Means for Texas School Districts
“I felt like the best course of action would have been to have an open, public, transparent review of CSCOPE lessons, and allow smaller districts who use them to make the determination of whether they want to continue using the lessons or not. It’s essentially deprived school districts of the ability to make that decision.” […]
Does Texas State Rep. Steve Toth's Word Mean Much?
UPDATE: The Texas House gave final passage to SB 1406 this morning. The bill now goes to Gov. Perry for his signature or veto. *** State Rep. Steve Toth’s commitment on Monday to pull down the CSCOPE bill he is sponsoring in the Texas House of Representatives had a shelf life of less than 12 […]
