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The Nation's Pulse
Textbook Texas
It’s official: The State Board of Education sticks to its guns.
If we Texans don’t know by now what a lot of louts and clods we are, we’ll surely know it once the national intelligentsia get through raking us over the coals for our state education board’s vote last week to primitivize our schools and debase young minds. That’s assuming our leaders of thought ever do get through with that holy mission.
They may not. The State Board of Education’s offense is great — namely, restoring to notice in Texas textbooks, to a certain eminence even, quaint ideas about federalism and the religious viewpoint of the American founders.
A liberal Democratic board member who voted against the standard is “ashamed of what we have done to the students and teachers of this state.” That should give you some idea of the infamy we have incurred.
It wouldn’t, in my lowbrow estimation, be reasonable to say everything the board did in framing the way Texas wants social studies textbooks written was beyond admonition or finger-waggling. Yet the board — whose decisions will influence for 10 years the way textbooks are written for other states as well as Texas — expertly demonstrated a well-known scientific principle: For every action, there is an opposite or equal reaction.
If the education board’s high-hatted critics deplore, say, sandwiching into the curriculum the topic of how conservatives surged to power in the '80s, they might have had a care in earlier years not to present the Roosevelt-Truman years as Nirvana.
Religion, as many will sense, is at the heart of the dispute over what America means. What did the Founders intend with the postulation of the First Amendment — a secular state or one consecrated to God and the Bible? The U.S. Supreme Court threw out of kilter, beginning in the 1960s, our more-or-less common understanding that Religion was a Good Thing, and worthy, in some murky sense, of advancement and promotion on government’s part.
Post '60s liberal ideology, by contrast, holds that state and church were marked at the start for apartness. The Texas board of education, so far from accepting the postmodern view of things, has ordered a quest for balance. Members want it noted that the words “separation of church and state” appear nowhere in the Constitution. As indeed they don’t: deriving instead from a Jeffersonian metaphor. The need to make plain the difference between what Jefferson wrote in a private letter to the Danbury, Conn., Baptists and the actual language of the First Amendment aches for exposition. (Whether Texans, or anyone else, should look to the public schools for intelligent exposition of that sophisticated point is a different proposition.)
The education board, dominated at present by conservatives, made no bones of its belief that conservative ideas logically belong in educational discourse: particularly discourse financed by the taxpayers.
The Austin ruckus over textbooks has its national model in the Tea Party insurgencies, the anti-incumbent fever at the polls, the swelling anger at dictation and intimidation by the “pros,” the “experts,” who’ll happily tell us all what to think we’ll just shut up and listen.
The repudiation of the Republican Party, in two consecutive national elections, 2006 and 2008, didn’t signal, it seems, ordinary Americans’ desire for the drawing of all power into one national location, Washington, D.C. Ordinary Americans pay taxes without crying out, gee, tax us some more, won’tcha? Ordinary Americans embrace the impressive achievements of the civil rights revolution without submitting to dictation from the civil rights establishment over who’s “racist” and who isn’t. (Another thing ordinary Americans have taken up, with pardonable pride, is the pastime of giving political incumbents a raspberry and the toe of their boot.)
What the left affirms, by contrast, is nothing less than its entitlement to tell the American story as an inspirational tale of liberation from ancient suppositions of Western (read: “white male”) superiority reflected in such movements and institutions as Christianity, capitalism, slavery, aristocracy, and imperialism, all of which (so the usual narrative goes) we applied ourselves to putting in their rightful place, starting the in the 1960s.
What else did the Texas yahoos do to offend liberal sensibilities besides try to balance treatment of relationships between government and religion? Well, they provided for more objective treatment of the national “witch hunt” for communists in the 1950s, with a view to showing, apropos documents disclosed after the Soviet Union’s fall, that, yes, there were communists embedded in our government. A myth more tenacious even than “separation” of church and state is the quest of villainous, self-seeking folk like Joe McCarthy and Dick Nixon to find reds under every bed. That a lot of beds concealed a lot of reds is a point worth making before young minds conclude the kind of people who would go after poor Alger Hiss deserve no one’s sympathy.
The board even decided to give Jefferson Davis his day in court by offering his inaugural address as Confederate president alongside Abraham Lincoln’s arguments for maintenance of the union. What’s that? — show the existence of arguments that contrast and conflict with the received gospel of Lincoln? I think I can predict the board’s action here will produce pronounced reaction from an intelligentsia committed to the proposition — absent from discourse before the civil rights revolution — that the Confederacy was the embodiment of mass moral degeneracy.
The fate of the nation hardly rides on the resolution of essentially non-resolvable questions, such as did the South fight for slavery or local rights? Nearer to the heart of the matter is how much free speech and intellectual inquiry may the intelligentsia suppress without undermining the integrity of that same First Amendment for which they profess such large regard. The Texas education board’s opinion: Liberal orthodoxy ain’t orthodoxy; ain’t deserving either of the free pass for which liberals clamor.
So large (4.8 million students) is the Texas textbook market that publishers tend to sell Texas-approved texts in other states. This elevates the matter of our state education board, and its choices, to a prominence it would otherwise lack. What we decide down here might — gasp! — end up corrupting minds and hearts in Nebraska. And not just in the short term. Texas’ newly adopted textbooks standards are meant to last, and likely will, for 10 whole years.
One doesn’t look to see, really, the schoolmasters and ‘marms of Massachusetts passing on without demurral the views of Texas yahoos concerning the high points of the Reagan presidency. It suits Texans enough for now that their board never flinched in the face of yowls and screeches from whatever quarter, including home. No doubt it’s another legacy from our cowboy culture: you hear the thunder of oncoming hooves; you load, you squint, you call for a vote.
About the Author
William Murchison, a Dallas-based columnist for Creators Syndicate and author of Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity (Encounter Books), is completing a biography of John Dickinson..
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Potkas7| 5.24.10 @ 7:47AM
If the Founder's system of checks and balances means anything it means that the battle to restore vigor and a sense of purpose to this nation must be waged and won at the level of the State House, City Hall and the School Committee. Kudos to Texas for leading the way.
Miss Alabama| 5.24.10 @ 11:17AM
I want the textbooks to include a history of Ronald Reagan, our country's greatest president! School children would love him because children love noise.
Yes, our nation's school children would be thrilled to learn how Reagan stopped efforts to control noise pollution.
During the administration of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, the power of the EPA and its Office of Noise Abatement and Control was curtailed and its noise regulations rescinded.
Because of Reagan's doing away with efforts to control noise, we now have teenagers racing up and down our streets and highways with souped-up mufflers emitting ear-splitting, hellish noise.
And . . . concealed in the trunks of their cars are boom boxes that let out deep-bass sonic booms that wake us up at all hours and rattle our windows.
Adolescents care little for Qaulity- of-Life issues. What they want most is excitement and noise, and Reagan has given the noise to them in deafening decibels.
By all means, put a chapter in the history books about Reagan and title it "The Gipper's Gift of Noise."
Come on all you AmSpec readers: Let's hear it (once again) for the Gipper.
Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.24.10 @ 12:11PM
What Miss A? Speak up, I couldn't hear ya!!
Old Smokey| 5.24.10 @ 12:27PM
Miss Alabama, you are irritating as hell, but I must admit--you are hilarious.
Keep sending in the posts. When I see your moniker, I always pause to read its provocative message.
And Lullaby's, Legends and Lies-- your post was a funny riposte.
Glad to read a little humor for a change.
Erlinda La Costa| 5.24.10 @ 9:12PM
I think Miss Alabama (alabammywhammy?) is not only hilarious but a very articulate writer. She's definitely one of the best on this blog--she and Alan Brooks.
I admire her writing skills, but she occasionally gets off topic. But when she strays from the topic she's always entertaining and thought-provoking.
DukeD| 5.24.10 @ 1:25PM
You know what the funny thing is Ms Alabama..... I think you're trying to be serious. Sheesh! What a mess you are!
Nick| 5.24.10 @ 2:06PM
Miss Alabama,
Yes, the kind of muffler I put on my car, the type of stereo system in my car, and overall noise levels are the responsibility of the federal government.
Although, I don't remember seeing them in my copy of the U.S. Constitution. You know, the supreme law of the land.
President Reagan didn't have better things to do, like dealing with the Evil Empire, did he? No, he should have demanded, as dictator (he didn't have to deal with a democrat congress, after all), a universal noise level for all Americans.
That's what George Washington would've done.
Have you ever heard of the principle of subsidiarity, Miss Alabama?
Old Smokey| 5.24.10 @ 2:41PM
Nick, is it possible for you to post a sensible comment? Must you always tow the right-wing, anti-government line?
Although I rarely agree with Miss AL, she has made a valid point here. When quality of life is at stake, as it is with the increasing problem of environmental noise, government agencies should/must be formed to control it.
Noise pollution is a huge problem here in the United States--much more serious than in Europe, where governments there have tight noise-control policies.
Nick, you would have me infer conservatives are pro-noise.
Surely this is not the case, at least not with me and my family, who are currently working to get our city council to impose tighter noise control laws and harsher penalties for flouting them, which the young are doing right now all over this country, and they are doing it with impunity.
Nick| 5.24.10 @ 3:30PM
Old Smokey,
All of my comments are sensible. And also quite erudite. And above all, modest!
I always tow the CONSTITUTIONAL line. Why do you believe 535 pinheads in D.C. know what is best for 300 million Americans, Old Smokey?
I support wholeheartedly your family's efforts to impose tighter noise control ordinances in your locale. It is not a job for the congress or the president, nor do they have the power.
This is the definition of subsidiarity. Understand the difference? Try not to make unwarranted assumptions next time, Old Smokey.
Old Smokey| 5.24.10 @ 5:04PM
Nick,
SOUND SYSTEMS AND MUFFLERS
CANNOT BE REGULATED LOCALLY
My family and I want the government to outlaw illegally loud mufflers and loud music within cars. It is time for the motor vehicle law to stop these disruptions to our lives.
Both show complete disrespect for others. Unfortunately, communities, including the one I live in, have been told by the courts that sound systems and mufflers cannot be regulated locally, and noise ordinances are difficult to enforce.
We may not be able to get at the boom-boom easily, but certainly we can outlaw mufflers designed to create excessive noise. The government must demand that manufacturers of these loud mufflers stop production because they are disturbing the peace.
Nick, there is no need for you to respond to this post. I have nothing more to say to you. All I am trying to do is get people active in opposing excessively loud mufflers and boom boxes.
I am not playing the silly game of one-upmanship that seems to be the raison d'etre of you and so many other commenters on this blog.
I have had my say, and I am signing off with the admonition to do all you can to fight noise pollution at the local, state, and national level. Thank you.
Stuart (Austin, TX)| 5.24.10 @ 6:13PM
Nick and Old Smokey:
Both of you need to learn to spell. It's "toe the line," not "tow the line". It means, literally, to place one's toes upon a line as if standing at attention. "Towing" the line, as if working on a canal, doesn't make any sense in the context of the phrase's usual usage.
P.S. -- Miss Alabama's gripe (i.e., noise pollution) concerns a strictly state and local matter, against which the federal government has positively NO AUTHORITY to act.
Mr. LINGUISTIC AUTHORITY| 5.24.10 @ 7:27PM
Stuart, (not Stewart)
The phrase "toe the line" has evovled into "tow the line."
Why? Allow me to explain.
To tow a line would mean to drag it, just as Old Smokey claims that Nick drags the right-wing, anti-government line into all of his posts.
In it's spoken form, "tow the line" to many makes more "written sense" than "toe the line", which to many would make no sense.
The fact that they both sound the same when spoken would contribute to the confusion...and the assumption.
Thus the occurance of tow has increased over time, and thus provides positive feedback to more and more people that it is 'tow' and not 'toe'.
Always happy to help the confused and uninformed, I am respectfull yours,
Mr. Linguistic Authority (Crossword Champ of Lower Manhatten)
MTpat47| 5.25.10 @ 12:14AM
Toe the line? That is obvious to anyone who has run a foot race on a track. "No cheating now, everyone toe the line.""Ready, set, go ...."
"Tow the line" obviously means that everyone must help in an endeavor; like tow the boat past a rapid.
Nick| 5.24.10 @ 11:31PM
Stuart and Mr. Linguistic Authority,
Thanks for the correction and counter-correction.
I was in a hurry and didn't have time to look it up.
But, according to the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms it is "toe the line."
"This idiom refers to runners in a race placing their toes on the starting line and not moving until the starting signal. Its figurative use dates from the early 1800s." (via Dictionary.com)
Thanks again. I love learning new things, unlike liberals.
Nick| 5.24.10 @ 11:34PM
Old Smokey,
I never claimed it would be easy.
Charles Martel| 5.25.10 @ 12:29PM
"SOUND SYSTEMS AND MUFFLERS
CANNOT BE REGULATED LOCALLY"?
How sad for you, that you have such judges. In my part of the country, you'd get the ticket and you'd pay the fine. After a few times of that, you'd get your muffler repaired and give up the mobile DJ business.
+++
Mary| 5.25.10 @ 2:45PM
reply to Old Smokey....and the city council is the right place to enact tighter noise-control laws. It is NOT the federal government's responsibility.
RDN in Houston| 5.24.10 @ 3:14PM
Miss Alabama: You are a leftist troll or a ditz. We know from yesterday that you don't know anything about what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. Today you further embarrass yourself with "how Reagan stopped efforts to control noise pollution?" Good grief, go back to Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery or where ever you are from and stfu.
Rebecca T. of NYC| 5.24.10 @ 5:24PM
Readers, if you haven't read yesterday's piece titled "Resenting African Christianity," you missed Miss Alabama's exquisite contribution.
I am a student of political science, and my professor has made an assignment for me and my classmates to critique three politically liberal blogs and three politically conservative blogs. I chose American Spectator, and yesterday was the first time I had read it. I made one comment, but I went back and read every single post.
The commenters that struck me as most informed and persuasive were Miss Alabama, Sol Weinstein, and Tyrone Purvis, although they resorted to a little sarcasm, which I do not like, but their subtle sarcasm was not as bad as the incivility I read in many other posts: name calling, insults, vulgarity, etc.
I shall continue to read American Spectator for this week only, and I will turn in my critique to my professor on June 4th. I will also submit a synopsis on this blog if an article lends itself to my little report. Just look for my moniker: Rebecca T. of NYC. (hear the rhyme?)
YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE| 5.24.10 @ 5:55PM
we give a rodent's hind parts what you think... what you are doing... or what you will do. You are a mignion of the left, brainwashed by the main-stream-media. God have mercy on your soul.
Rebecca T. of NYC| 5.24.10 @ 7:37PM
Thank you so much, YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE, for responding so hysterically to my quiet, little post.
I shall use you and your screeching invective as an example of the kind of reader AmSpec attracts.
Lovely hearing from you.
Nick| 5.25.10 @ 2:57PM
Rebecca,
I'm sure your critique will be totally objective.
And monkeys might fly out of my butt!
(My apologies to those who are offended by a "Wayne's World" reference.)
hyrdr| 5.25.10 @ 2:09AM
Ya see's hea Missa a what we have here is a failure to communicate.
You want government to controll your life... and everyones life you dont agree with. It's about freedom. Look that one up and learn about it. You might enjoy it yourself, like moving to China.
Axel| 5.25.10 @ 9:34AM
Regan was a murderer. He killed thousands of gay men in the 1980's by denying the existence of HIV/AIDS.
J| 5.25.10 @ 1:52PM
Reagan did not make those gay men have promiscuous sex. AIDS existed whether gay men heard Reagan say it or not. Furthermore, your hysteria assumes gay men were waiting with baited breath for Reagan to say something before they had sex. This is all nonsense. Plus, now that we've had 3 decades of AIDS education, gay men are still infected at a disproportionate rate relative to the rest of the population. Sorry if logic interfears with your hysteria Axel.
J| 5.25.10 @ 1:48PM
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Miss 'bama, the idea that the Federal Government is responsible for degenerate kids making too much noise is quite laughable. Furthermore, every single state and locality can pass noise ordinances. Whether they do or not has nothing to do with the EPA. Only the truly unhinged would take that much of a stretch.
USAF VETERAN| 5.25.10 @ 9:01PM
There are already local laws for noise. Do you need the Federal Government to come into your home for everything? Let Uncle Sam hold the tissue and tell you when to blow and how hard, how long, how much mucas you are allowed to deposit in each tissue, how many tissues can be used, what time of day, and by the way fill out these forms and pay the processing fee.
Paul Ashley| 5.24.10 @ 7:48AM
I would hope that they will extent this beyond American history to include requiring teaching about the Left's history of mass murder in the 20th century.
Tradbert| 5.24.10 @ 7:49AM
If we don't "know by know"... huh? With all due respect, your rants against the intelligentsia would be a bit more sympathetic if your article was written in legible English.
Brubaker| 5.24.10 @ 8:45AM
Murchison's "know by know" is an obvious typographical error (know by now). Do you have any useful comments to offer, or do you just like to rant?
Doorgunner| 5.24.10 @ 10:44AM
Having parsing your two sentences, Tradbert, I am left with a question, and a notion.
How can a rant, an inanimate, and,indeed, intangible construct, be sympathetic?
And, with no respect earned on your part, I must say, you are a boob.
There, see how easy it is to be a pretentious, pseudo-intellectual?
march2 2011| 5.24.10 @ 7:58AM
Hooray for the SBOE of Texas. BUT, if you think AZ was beat up for its (as libeals like to call it) "New Immigration Law" , just wait for the "stuck pigs" to "squeel" about this. This will be soooooo misrepresented by the MSM (as some of it already has been, even locally) we may actually take some of the heat off AZ.
hyrdr| 5.25.10 @ 2:22AM
I love it when the typo police show up. They are always so superior. (in their little bittie world)
martin j smith| 5.24.10 @ 8:15AM
I am not big on focusing on religion in textbooks, but I do believe that our young students with heads full of mush have been fed left wing pablum for decades. it time for a change--Equal opportunity. The problem will be what actually goes on in the classroom itself. If I were the "fly on the wall" I would love to look in at random class rooms thruout the nation to get an idea of what is actually Taught to the student. I will bet you schools will create their own Left Wing curricula amd contiue to teach the same BS that has been taught. Revere thei5r great leader!!!!!!!
Mike Giles| 5.24.10 @ 8:22AM
"The fate of the nation hardly rides on the resolution of essentially non-resolvable questions, such as did the South fight for slavery or local rights? "
Actually the South did fight for slavery; but the way to show this is not as a settled question received as Gospel from on high. But by showing the secession ordinances and the Confederate Constitution. In short, ALL the information on the subject. Both sides, not just the side one side or the other favors. And the argument that there isn't enough room to tell everything, should be answered by resolving to tell the most important things.
daddio| 5.24.10 @ 10:25AM
There IS room to tell everything. What is lacking is the will...
crookedwren| 5.24.10 @ 8:29AM
It's long past due. Thanks, Texas SBOE!
I'm especially thrilled to hear that they've actually identified the origin of the "separation" quote --- and that they've actually dared to clarify the Joseph McCarthy material. I always thought he was on HUAC. Yet he was a Senator -- a man crucified by our media and the Marxists/Progressives in our government -- who was so admired by Robert Kennedy that McCarthy was asked to be a godfather to Kennedy's first offspring.
And that the Venona Papers are mentioned as proof that McCarthy, Nixon, et al were CORRECT -- well, THAT is a downright miracle, I'd say.
I pray there are enough teachers to actually TEACH fairly, teachers whose minds haven't been perverted by the indoctrination techniques of their Marxist professors.
But at least more of the truth is getting printed for students to see.
Marcus Brown| 5.24.10 @ 8:32AM
Gee, it's wonderful that Tradbert spotted an obvious typo and concluded the article was not written in legible English. Wow! What a brain!
Marcus Brown| 5.24.10 @ 8:48AM
The South, led by the elites, probably went to war with one of the main reasons being the slavery issue. I do have to reflect on the knowledge that only five per cent of the population lived on plantations. The small merchant class was included in the remaining 95% filled by thousands trying to eke out a living from the soil.
JS| 5.24.10 @ 1:53PM
The South did not go to war over slavery. They were forced because they chose to seceed. The War of Northern Agression (incorrectly called the Civil War) was fought to keep the southern states in the union. Lincoln said so in several wrtitings. He stated that he would have left the slaves in bondage if it meant keeping the union together.
Your numbers on slave ownership are pretty accurate, so they beg the question ' why would 95% of the population fight for the property of 5%?' They wouldn't. So, there has to be more to it than the lie that '...the Cilvil War was fought to free the slaves.' The south seceeded because they believed (correctly in my estimation, just look at the Federal today) the Federal government was taking too much control of their everyday lives.
Please note, this arguement is not for slavery. Slavery is an abhorant practice that still permiated our society today. Also remember the democrat party is the party of slavery, Jim Crowe, Segregation, poll tax, Bull Connor and Governor Wallace. If you are black and vote democrat you are either seriously misguided, ignorant or stupid.
libby| 10.1.10 @ 8:51PM
I voted for bush..twice and im a bit disturbed at your statement. Why would a demographic vote against their economic best interests? As a moderate, the only reason i do vote right-wing is because it is in my bank account's best interests to do so. How about this:
If you make less than 200k per year and vote republican you are misguided and ignorant and feed into the hype that religious and "moral" values are more important than the serious economic issues that arise from politicians that talk Christ yet walk with their wallet filled by corporate lobbyists. -- see what i did there
Does anyone else see the problem with this textbook hooey?
Ken (Old Texican)| 5.24.10 @ 9:40AM
I posted the other day that Texas has some ongoing fights with the feds that are sorta' keeping us busy.
I would not be a bit surprised if the feds stick their noses into this text-book fight...perhaps by subsidizing purchase of alternative text-books in many States if nothing else.
The communists, (pardon the shorthand), simply abhor the idea that alternative ideas get out to any degree in classrooms, homework, or anywhere else.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 9:46AM
"We took our licks, we got outvoted," he said referring to the debate from 10 years earlier. "Now it's 10-5 in the other direction ... we're an elected body, this is a political process. Outside that, go find yourself a benevolent dictator." - Republican board member, David Bradley ... yep, that's right, let's not teach history, let's teach politics in the guise of history instead of what kids really need to know. Isn't that called child abuse? Who cares whether Jefferson Davis was a God among men? He was a traitor to the United States and should be a footnote in history, not an equal to Abraham Lincoln. Slavery is a stain on American history, and the conservatives know it, that's why they changed the Slave Trade to the Triangle of Trade - sounds more innocuous doesn't it?
And, they removed Thomas Jefferson from a list of influential people in American History! Are you kidding me? The author of the Declaration of Independence! These people are nuts.
"We do a disservice to children when we shield them from the truth, just because some people think it is painful or doesn't fit with their particular views," Secretary of Education Duncan said in a statement. "Parents should be very wary of politicians designing curriculum."
No one should buy the books that Texas wants to sell ... it's indoctrination and propaganda and has no place in education. Why not teach Mein Kampf next?
Doctor Right| 5.24.10 @ 10:31AM
I love how you Lib-pansies cry and whine when the situation is reversed, and the "other side" makes decisions that you don't like.
You jack-offs haven't been teaching history since the 1960's. You've been inculcating our children with a body of left-liberation politics and Marxist lies.
Well the people of Texas have had enough, and they told you where to stick it. And come November, the rest of the country will be telling you where to stick it - including your idiot-boy President.
Patriot| 5.24.10 @ 11:35AM
Hey Doc,
Don't let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.
AMENBRO| 5.24.10 @ 3:18PM
Patriot,,,, the turd i flushed this morning, my arse.
Shame that wasn't your liberal mush GRINNIN & SPINNIN on the way down. You frickers nauseate purefire hail outta me. Get YOU next time.
I'm 50+ ; Ihave returned to college to upgrade the skills.
GD it is a crying shame just how frucking ILITERATE the professors under 35 are.
When I correct these dpschticks on mere farts in time like the COLD WAR it astonishes me still that I am telling these people something they have never heard before even their possessing a PH "GD" DEEE.. YOU CAN SEE IT IN THEIR EYES AS THE LIGHTENING BOLT BLOWS THE BACK OUTTA THEIR EMPTY SKULLS
The door musta hit your MAMMIES arsse on the way in our fine country.
Course best part of you is a crusty stain on a mattress where the by-product of liberalism sleeps.A homeless shelter for mental defectives who liberals gave the choice to get hospitalization or not. Would you like I go further PATTY BOY/GIRL????
Philo | 5.24.10 @ 10:44AM
Purpleguy, you've fallen for the Left's disinformation. I testified before the Board last Wednesday after spending hours studying the new standards. The Board had proposed changing 'the growth of the slave trade' to 'the triangular trade and the spread of slavery', and reversed themselves when people got upset, but they never proposed dropping reference to slavery. Jefferson was not deleted from American history; they proposed dropping his name from one list (of important political philosophers, e.g., Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau) in the World History course. Again, they restored him when people got upset. (I think they were right to drop him; Jefferson does not belong on that particular list.) The new standards are actually very impressive. Read them yourself at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3643.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 11:03AM
"Analyze Abraham Lincoln’s ideas about liberty, equality, union and government as contained in his first and second inaugural addresses and the Gettysburg Address and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address. (8th grade U.S. History); " - Why? Jefferson Davis was a traitor to the United States - why put him on an equal footing with Abraham Lincoln? What is the purpose?
"Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed its free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and compare and contrast this to the phrase “separation of church and state.” (Government); " - Why? We all know the Pilgrims came over here to avoid Religious persecution; the last thing the Founders wanted was the State involved in religion ...
"Discuss the solvency of long term entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. (U.S. History since 1877)." - Why? Do they include lessons on fiscal management and finance, care for the poor, the sick, the elderly? the solvency is simply based on the politicians having no guts to provide the funding ... guess what this discussion advocates?
The Politics of today don't belong in the study of our own history, except as it applies to the history of the time.
alert1201| 5.24.10 @ 11:20AM
"why put him on an equal footing with Abraham Lincoln? What is the purpose"
Read the article again PG. No body is putting them on the same moral footing. They are just putting their ideas up against each other so students can see both sides.
I'm home schooling both of my children and one of the primary tools to get them to think is to propose contrary ideas so that they can see both sides of the issue. This teaches them how to examine, analyze and draw conclusions based on the issues at hand. I know this is against the liberal mind-numbing method of demonizing their opponents in stead of clearly presenting their views for examination, but it is the best way to teach and it is what they are doing in Texas.
AmenBro| 5.24.10 @ 3:21PM
Hemorrhoidal Purple or is it foreskin pullback purple??
You must be a college professor.
JimE| 5.24.10 @ 10:45PM
Purpletard,
You seem to have no problem with putting obama next to lincoln. Afraid students might find out SS is a scam? Your problem is if students are taught the truth leftist losers like you are finished. Go go grovel at obama and holder's anus.
USAF VETERAN| 5.25.10 @ 9:37PM
Social Security: The biggest scam on the American People. It's nothing more than a pyramid sceme. What happens to ordinary people starting one of these.....they go to jail if convicted. We need to ween our Country off of this and other "entitlement" programs. When you hit 65 you have to sign up for Medi-care. You don't have a choice (thanks Liberals). What we need is a return to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. We need a conservative government (voting works just not straight ticket 'cause that's lazy and a main cause of our problems), reduce taxes(income tax never Constitutionally ratified), 50 Secretaries of state that can do thier job(verify a candidate's eligibility before being put on the ballot), securing our borders(way to go Arizona), and make english the official language of the United States(enough with the bilingual/trilingual/*lingual forms(because Liberals love illegals). We need to educate our children better(Liberals love ignorance). There is a difference between ignornace and stupidity. Igonorance is a lack of information and can be fixed. Stupidity; well enjoy the lead paint chips your Messiah is feeding you.
Doorgunner| 5.24.10 @ 10:48AM
Oh-boo-freakin'-hoo. Where was your outrage on the last go around?
Hell, where's your outrage/comment on Mr. Lord's lead article regarding the White House attempting to bribe Sestak?
You clown-brained purple twerp.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 10:51AM
Whatever it was, it's called politics ... no quid pro quo, no broken laws ... period, end of story.
Except it's one more Republican tactic thing you try to pin on Obama. Why don't you love your country?
PJ| 5.24.10 @ 10:52AM
Purpleguy:
Isn't studying history all about studying "the experts'" interpretation of the past? For the past 30 to 40 yrs, we had the progressives's version. I give the SBOE some credit for trying to add some balance to the curriculm although I'm sure they will sometimes tilt it to the other extreme.
High schoolers should start to be exposed to both sides of the argument by a competent teacher. I have no problem if my teenagers read parts of Jefferson Davis's speeches or any other controversial topic as long as the teacher steers them in the morally correct direction (as universally defined) by showing the fallacies, weaknesses, & strengths of the arguments being made.----- Teaching the kids how to think so they can be better informed citizens. Unfortunately many social studies teachers are not qualified for this task. Thus, it doesn't make a difference what textbooks they use; I still have to unteach my kids the historical inaccuracies they learn at school whether it was coming from the textbook or teacher. Maybe with the standards coming out of Texas & hopefully being copied by the rest of the country, I won't have to unteach my kids as much.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 11:11AM
Don't bet on it ... I also was taught in school about Jefferson Davis and why the Civil War occurred.
But this curriculum has a specific conservative point of view - Why? One of the Texas SBOE members specifically says that exact thing ... again, Why? What is the agenda?
You're kidding yourself if you think there isn't an agenda here. But it's one thing to have an uninformed or poor teacher, it's quite another for an entire schoolboard to engage in propaganda and revisionist history.
Alert1201| 5.24.10 @ 11:22AM
And if you think there is no agenda in the way liberals are teaching are children you are an idiot.
JS| 5.24.10 @ 2:02PM
Hmmm, I guess purple people eater didn't get the memo. The Klu Klux Klan was the terrorist arm of the democrat party. (We now know that roll has been taken over by the SEIU).
Here's some other facts you might want to check out...the demcrat party is the party of slavery, segregation, the poll tax and Jim Crowe laws. You know what I'm talking about. C'mon say it with me ' SEGREGATION YESTERDAY, SEGREGATION TODAY, SEGREGATION FOREVER!' Thank you Governor Wallace. (he was a democrat, remember).
Until you are ready to look at issues according to what is right and wrong, go away troll.
Anthony| 5.24.10 @ 5:11PM
Get with the program fool; they do teach "Mein Kampf", only it's the updated and abridged version, called "Rules for Radicals".
Len| 5.24.10 @ 6:31PM
I'll let Lincoln speak for himself concerning his intent in waging war on the south..
First Inaugural Address..I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.
Letter to Horace Greeley in 62....My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it,
There we go Lincoln like all true tyrants was not concerned about freeing the slaves, but rather elevated the "state" above the freedom of people to choose their own form of governance. This is what they do in China, Cuba and N. Korea among others.
Lincoln was so concerned with preserving the "Union" that dadgummit a few hundred thousand lives killed spent for such a purpose was well worth it. What if you wanted to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed right to speak out against the war or print articles voicing opposition, well that "Union" that was created to protect these liberties would throw you in prison by the 10s of thousands and shut down your newspapers. That guaranteed right to a republican form of government, well if you're the state legislature of Maryland you get thrown in prison. How about voting? Well good old Lincoln will send his brownshirts to the polls to remind you how to properly use your vote.
Yeah good old Lincoln sure was concerned about that liberty mentioned in the preamble to the US constitution.
OH!! BTW, secession? Established by the Declaration of Independence and the very act of instituting the US constitution as a form of government. Article 13 of the Articles of Confederation specifically forbid for any alteration of the government that was not unanimous through the Congress, yet the people of the states in convention seceded peacefully from the A of C to enact the US constitution. The 1st congress went to session with only 11 states having ratified the US constitution.
hyrdr| 5.25.10 @ 2:34AM
To: Ken old Texan
You quote "Parents should be very wary of politicians designing curriculum."
Inspired this.
Parents should be very wary of teachers designing History.
You leftists are the same protesters who spit on returning VN Vetrans.
Never forget
Doctor Right| 5.24.10 @ 10:27AM
Texas is a microcosm of the greatness that this nation USED to represent...And hopefully will again, one day.
If Texas could secede from the union, I'd be on the next train out of Jersey.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 10:49AM
And, i'd buy you the ticket... ! All knuckledraggers to Texas - why wait, go now.
Doctor Right| 5.24.10 @ 11:36AM
We'll take the knuckledraggers, Purplegal...
You can have the welfare deadbeats, the illegals, the unions, the sexual perverts and deviants, the femi-nazis, the leftwing professorial types, the bureacratic know-nothings, the angry college-student jack-offs, the pierced and tatooed losers, the bums (you call them "homeless"), the tree-huggers - basically, you can have the entire Democrat Party constituency.
In 5 short years, after your socialist utopia has become a nightmare, you'll be trying to sneak into our country...
...But we'll have an effective border patrol, and a BIG electric fence to keep your liberal asses out.
...And if that doesn't work, well, we'll all be packin' heat in the land of the knuckle-draggers, so you'd better watch your leftwing back, loser.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 2:41PM
Blah, blah, woofie... there's a lot of hot air down yonder in Texas I see ...
AmenBro| 5.24.10 @ 3:23PM
Pullback aka dickhaiddd. i just figured out why I can smell your hot panting breath through the monitor.
Youse be talkin outta yore assssssssssets
JmsA| 5.24.10 @ 10:31PM
Purpleturd,
"Blah, blah, woofie... there's a lot of hot air down yonder in Texas I see ..." That's all you could come up with after the guy just kicked your arrogant A$$ all over the place. 11/02/2010
USAF VETERAN| 5.25.10 @ 10:28PM
If by "knuckledraggers"; you mean someone working to make this Nation and its people great. Then thanks for the comliment. It's better than sitting on your welfare check waiting for Congress to give you another hand out.
ccd| 5.24.10 @ 10:40AM
Why are texans so lazy they can't even be bothered to teach their own children about Christianity? Instead they rely on big government to do it for them.
Len | 5.24.10 @ 6:38PM
Just like all the gays use the education system to teach their beliefs, or the socialists do the same.
How about we just take government out of the equation and those that want to have children make sure they can afford to provide for them? Government needs to remain as instrument of arbitration between people, or other instituted governments. Only at the local level should communities with common beliefs (if possible) be deciding such things as education or providing for the poor(the truly indigent, not the wastrels that have squandered their lives and made poor decisions that have hurt them financially.).
Bill A | 5.24.10 @ 10:46AM
Purpleguy
"Parents should be very wary of politicians designing curriculum".
When my oldest daughter was in 6th grade here in Mass. her English class did three book reports during the year. The first dealt with a Hopi Indian family in the 1800's southwest, the second with a Jewish family in Europe in the 30'sand 40's of the last century and the last book dealt with a Black family in America's rural south during the 1920's, 30s and 40's. When I pointed out my concerns to the teacher, she merely replied that these decisions were made by the state board of education. When my daughter got back her first book report she proudly showed me her A. I was shocked to find twelve mispelled words that were not corrected. When I asked the teacher why they were not corrected she replied," We do not wish to stultify the childrens writing ability". I always thought spelling was part of learning English and I would suggest that the three books chosen indicates a political agenda.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 11:20AM
First, poor teachers can be found anywhere ... and all parents should be as involved as you were with your daughter to spot and correct as much as possible mistakes or missteps made by teachers.
An English teacher allowing ANY spelling errors, let alone that many should be fired. I would take that to the Superintendent and to the Press to investigate. Good God, if an English teacher can't or won't correct for Good English, who can/will?
To be honest, I never understood as a child why we read the books/stories we did - but I learned later in life why. "The Crucible", "Great Expectations" and "Animal Farm" come to mind. I still can't tell you why "Great Expectations" was a better choice of Dickens, then say "A Tale of Two Cities".
As far as Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy is concerned, they are an interesting chapter in American History, but certainly don't need to be put on a par with Abraham Lincoln. That's like elevating Marxism to the level of Capitalism as if they were both equally successful or had an equal influence on American History ...
alert1201| 5.24.10 @ 11:28AM
Again, nobody is elevating the Confederacy. They are giving both sides of the issue. As much as I despise Marxism I believe it should be accurately represented in historical studies. You can do this without elevating it to the same level as Capitalism. That is all they are doing in Texas. It is not what is done in most curriculum. Trust me, I have examined dozens of them and the conservatives one are fare more honest, accurate and respectful to opposing views.
Bill A | 5.24.10 @ 3:43PM
The point I was trying to make was less about poor teachers than the fact that different states have different political attitudes and therefore those attitudes show up in the various curricula
of these states. It is imperative that we teach our young to read between the lines and to think for themselves.
To discuss Jefferson Davis and the South we could probably take up volumes.
Robert Pinkerton| 5.24.10 @ 5:48PM
"An English teacher allowing ANY spelling errors, let alone that many should be fired. I would take that to the Superintendent and to the Press to investigate. Good God, if an English teacher can't or won't correct for Good English, who can/will?"
Tell that to HM Ministry of Education in Britain.
Purpleguy| 5.24.10 @ 5:59PM
Huh?
JmsA| 5.24.10 @ 10:43PM
"That's like elevating Marxism to the level of Capitalism as if they were both equally successful or had an equal influence on American History ..."
Why, that's just what you do every time you post, purpleturd. You've extolled the virtues of socialism to no end, beginning with your advocacy of the One's and his leftist democrat cohorts agenda, which you unceassingly and erroneously try to conflate with that of our forebears. Where do you think socialism came from, other than for Marxism/Leninism, genius? 11/02/2010
Nate| 5.24.10 @ 11:44AM
Purpleguy @ 1103am
Like it or not, Jefferson Davis is a rather important person in our collective history. If he, and others like him, were willing to break the Union and plunge the nation into war, perhaps we should learn about it. Hopefully, in the process, we'll learn *from* it, even.
The same goes for the "separation of church and state." Although the vast majority of Americans at the birth of our nation were Christians, they were not all uniformly so. First, as I'm sure that you already know, not all of them were Puritans, or even descendants of Puritans. Although most Puritans were Calvinists, they also tended to be congregationalists vs. (for instance) Presbyterians (also Calvinists, but with a different form of Church governance). Amongst the Southern states, Anglicans were far more prevalent and settling in America was far less about religious tolerance (they were the majority in their native England, after all). So...in other words, the religious composition of the early US was not uniform and it is fair, and thought provoking, to ask the question about the intentions of the various groups (including the secularists, such as Jefferson).
And now onto medicare, etc. *IF* we are to teach *ANY* modern history, then modern politics WILL be a part of it. Our world was still strongly influenced by the politics of WW2 up until about 1990 or so. It's rather inevitable and unavoidable. The Great Society is now 40+ years old and if we are to look back upon our history -- from then to now, from there to here -- then reflecting on the Great Society is absolutely something that should be part of that.
Overall, the questions you cited are good ones. These are what young minds SHOULD be asking - they are challenging students to think critically, weigh argument and evidence and draw their own conclusions from analysis. Otherwise, let's just rage against Emmanuel Goldstein and brand anyone that questions this an enemy of the state.
Nick| 5.24.10 @ 2:13PM
Nate, are you really Toddard pretending to be someone else?
You sure do write the same, although with different ideologies.
Oldefarte| 5.24.10 @ 11:54AM
This POLITICAL CORRECTNESS has historically crept into just about every facit of our lives, thanks to the domestic terrorism of the looney, liberal left's consistent war upon America's traditional value system. They have waged war upon religion, via homosexuality and sexual perversion; which now is evidenced by our military's upcoming self-destruction over 'DON'T ASK' and the implosion of established religions [and our public education system] over gays' rights to come out of the closet and defy the Natural Law established by God. We as a people and as a country are allowing ourselves to get closer and closer to the cliff of destructive no return!!!!!
Northern Rebel| 5.24.10 @ 12:49PM
Don't worry Miss Alabama, I'm sure this madministration will address your noise pollution agenda. They want to silence people like me, AND YOU, if they disagree with your views.
That's how it starts:
Pass a law because kids are too loud, and soon they are breaking down your door because the Glenn Beck program is too loud on your TV.
This, just in case you are a young Miss Alabama, is known as the slippery slope.
Be careful what you wish for, ma'am.
gene hauber| 5.24.10 @ 2:24PM
at 71 years old my mind is way past the "corrupting"
effects of Texas school books, but thank God some sensibility is returning to academia. Y'all have my permission to start "corrupting" the minds of my six great grandchildren and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
YAHOOOOOOOO!
Ken (Old Texican)| 5.24.10 @ 4:08PM
Purpleguy,
heh...
You better watch out. We are being a baaaaad influence on you.
As days go by, and you interact with our thought, baby step by baby step, you are beginning to ask the crucial questions.
You certainly have not given up on your sweet unicorn thoughts quite yet, but your mind has certainly kicked in to reality.
I am actually enjoying your conversion experience as it unfolds...baby-step by baby-step.
God bless
WRJonas | 5.24.10 @ 5:21PM
I hope the new textbook s include the part about Reagan firing the air traffic controllers for an illegal strike.
I loved that one.
Len | 5.24.10 @ 6:40PM
Best part of the article..A Texan admitting to being a lout and clod.
GO OKLAHOMA!!!
runinplace| 5.24.10 @ 8:30PM
"Who controls the past controls the future", wrote Orwell. What's not included in a history book can be as influental as what is included. The left would be content to delete any reference to the part that Reagan and Pope John Paul II played in the fall of the Soviet empire, giving credit only to Gorbachev.
Yosemeti Sam| 5.25.10 @ 12:05AM
Yo - Texas.
Yo - the Alamo!
Yo - Sam Houston!
Yo - the Right genealogical Stuff rejuvenating!
Yo - in your face, BHO & Leftoid soulmates.
SJ Fenton| 5.25.10 @ 12:38PM
I am always a bit mystified at the pompous attitude of the academic retards running our educational system. Rather than be embarrassed at their horrendous legacy they have the astonishing hubris to talk down to their critics.
The fact is, the level of academic competence of American students has plummeted for almost a half a century - coinciding perfectly with the development and implementation of a "progressive" curriculum.
The apex of American student SAT scores was 1964. High School seniors across the nation can't match the academic competence of Junior High students of the 1960s. Even now as American students in fourth grade rank in the top five internationally our Senior High school student rankings have dropped behind another forty-plus nations - establishing the sad fact that the longer our students are exposed to our present educational system the farther behind the rest of the world they fall.
Our academic "leadership" should should be ashamed of their record and if they had any integrity they would remove themselves from this debate and allow better qualified participants to truly reform our educational system.
The Texas reform is a much needed breath of fresh air.
"Mr. Linguistic Authority" is a perfect example. The expression is "Toe the line" and has no relation to "towing the line". Your appellation is as inaccurate as your logic. Perhaps you may want to change it to "Mr. Linguistic Poseur"?
John| 5.25.10 @ 5:58PM
They don't use textbooks AT ALL in the schools. They use "Online" curriculum.
Brook Lynn| 5.28.10 @ 12:21AM
I want to focus on the article, but these comments reveal deeper truths- that the argument is more over demographics and political parties than what's really at stake: our nation's future.
The Texas State Board of Education was motivated to make these changes for the sake of patriotism. But, I don't think an internalized sense of patriotism can be accomplished via manipulation or indoctrination. (ie fudging history textbooks.) I think real patriotism comes from being a citizen of a great country. I think a great country needs a great, informed, curious, skeptical, opinionated, brave, and collaborative population. We need to cultivate critical young minds that can upset and challenge the current administration (Republican, Democrat alike) because both parties failed us. Our education system all the way from preschool to college is a joke, and I've got the overwhelming student loans and underpaying job to prove it.
I want our country to be strong and healthy; I want our population to be free thinkers. I question if these new textbooks are too processed; too representative of only one point of view?
Anyways, I'm pretty sure that my kids will be of a radically different political party than me, just as I differ from my own parents. I think that's a good thing.
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Boston| 10.3.10 @ 12:20PM
I think texas should stop trying to change history it's how it happend its how we should learn and thats it!
mobile dj dude | 12.10.10 @ 2:01PM
You never know what a text book is going to say these days, especially if it is from Texas. If I have learned anything from king of the hill, you'd better check your text books first before sending them out to kids.