With the science textbook adoption mostly behind them, State Board of Education (SBOE) members are turning their attention to next year’s adoption of new social studies textbooks for Texas public schools. And we’re already seeing right-wing activists preparing to turn that adoption into another “culture war” battleground. Circulating among tea party and other right-wing activists in […]
TFNEF
The Mythical ‘War on Christmas’ in Texas Schools
We thought it was revealing that Texas Values, the lobby arm of the Plano-based religious-right group Liberty Institute, was mostly AWOL during the science textbook battle at the State Board of Education (SBOE) this year. It turns out that the group prefers to scare its members with myths and fantasies rather than work on serious […]
Cynthia Dunbar (Remember Her?) Says Teaching Texas Kids about Climate Change Is 'Socialized Education'
Remember Cynthia Dunbar? She’s the creationist former member of the Texas State Board of Education who wrote a book in which she called public education “tyrannical,” unconstitutional and a “subtly deceptive tool of perversion.” Dunbar left the board at the end of 2010 and last we heard was teaching law at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. On […]
How Science Won in the Texas Textbook Battle
Last week’s State Board of Education (SBOE) vote to adopt new science textbooks for Texas public schools represented an important victory for science education. But what you have been reading in the news media doesn’t tell the whole story about what was happening behind the scenes in this battle — including the effort to derail […]
BREAKING NEWS: Science Education Wins in Texas!
The State Board of Education just voted to adopt all of the high school biology and environmental science textbooks without watering down instruction on evolution and climate change. We just sent out the following press release: TEXAS TEXTBOOK ADOPTION IS A MAJOR VICTORY FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION No Compromise on Science Instruction about Evolution or Climate […]