Last night’s State Board of Education elections marked another big step toward an end to the culture wars in Texas public school classrooms. With the defeat of incumbent Charlie Garza, R-El Paso, the state board’s faction of far-right ideologues should be smaller next year than at any time since before the 2006 elections. Zooming out […]
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)
‘The Revisionaries’ Held Over in Austin
“The Revisionaries,” the award-winning documentary about the textbook wars at the Texas State Board of Education, is getting another week-long run at Austin’s Violet Crown Cinema. If you didn’t get a chance to catch this must-see film last week, make the time to go between now and November 8. “The Revisionaries” is an unprecedented behind-the-scenes […]
Liz Lemon and That Whole Texas Board of Education Thing
Congratulations, SBOE! You’re so famous for all the wrong reasons that even Liz Lemon knows about you … sort of. Watch, from last night’s 30 Rock: […]
Get Your Tickets for ‘The Revisionaries’ Premiere in Austin on October 26
“The Revisionaries” — an award-winning documentary film about the textbook wars at the Texas State Board of Education — is headed to Austin, and TFN is hosting two premiere showings at the Violet Crown Cinema on Friday, Oct. 26. The theater isn’t very big — so act quickly to get buy your tickets for either […]
‘The Revisionaries’ Is Headed to Austin!
“The Revisionaries,” the award-winning documentary about the Texas textbook wars, is headed to a theater in Austin later this month! We’re working out final details for special TFN screenings of the film the night of the premiere and hope to announce the date on Monday. Stay tuned! […]