The Texas Freedom Network just issued the following press release: TFN Joins National Groups Opposing Politicization of Curriculum Standards in Texas Letter Supports U.S. House Resolution Calling for Experts to Determine Standards, Not Politicians FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 5, 2010 The Texas Freedom Network and the Texas Faith Network have joined nearly two dozen national […]
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)
Fox, Schools and the Anti-Muslim Campaign
The Texas State Board of Education debate over social studies curriculum standards last spring drew unprecedented coverage from the national media, most of it reasonably balanced. The exception was coverage from Fox News, including commentator Tucker Carlson. Carlson and his Fox colleagues made so many false and misleading statements on-air about the debate that we […]
Proposed Resolution Hits Texas Ed Board
The hits keep coming. Last Friday Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, filed a U.S. House resolution criticizing the Texas State Board of Education‘s recklessly political revision of social studies curriculum standards for public schools. The resolution has four other sponsors, all members of Congress from Texas: Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, Silvestre Reyes, […]
Poll: Texans Fed Up with Education Wars
Today the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund released results from a statewide survey of what Texans think about the intersection of politics and religion with public schools. We released results from two questions back in May. One showed overwhelming support for putting teachers and scholars, instead of politicians on the State Board of Education, in […]
Colbert Hearts Texas SBOE
Thought the late night comedians had moved on from ridiculing the Texas State Board of Education? Think again. Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report once again took aim at his favorite punching bag last night in a segment called “I’s on Edjukashun.” Check it out. (Colbert’s riff on the SBOE starts just after the 2:00 […]
