The Texas State board of education is our public face of Christian
Evangelical Fundamentalist fervor down here in Dumbutt. The 15 members
of the board are made up of 7 hardcore Evangelical fundamentalist
creationists, 3 conservative Republicans, and 5 Democrats. They not only
dictate classroom curriculum but decide how text books for Texas
children should be written. Texas being as large as it is, every 10
years the initial buy of these text books is so great that the
publishers sell these Texas Taliban influenced editions to many smaller
states and school districts. Texas education board yet again promotes ideology over academics
Last year the board had a shake up! Governor Perry had to come in
after they lost the war to insert Intelligent Design into
our biology textbooks and classrooms. A change of leadership was needed!
Don McLeroy, a dentist and Evangelical fundamentalist creationist now
takes second position to their new leader, Gail Lowe who is an
Evangelical fundamentalist creationist but not a dentist.
After
losing the science battle last year they have decided to win the
history/social sciences battle this year by injecting their right-wing
swill into our children come Hell or Highwater. Both of which seem to be
on the near horizon.
Also take note that Texas has the highest
drop out rate in the land, and our students are so far behind the rest
of the nation that our governor has refused a billion federal dollars in
education funding so we wont be embarrassed by their scores in any
national testing standards.
I am not alone in pointing the
finger at these taliban goons. First his from the Houston Chronicle (a
moderate republican paper) editorial board, full article at Texas
education board yet again promotes ideology over academics
This is getting to be a familiar scenario: The Texas Board of
Education, preparing to adopt new curriculum standards, makes our school
children’s textbooks a matter of highly partisan wrangling.When
the board met last week to discuss what to teach Texas’ public school
students in history, geography, government and economics, their
preliminary druthers were heavily weighted in favor of the blatantly
divisive and ideological views of the board’s conservative majority.As
reported by the Chronicle’s Gary Scharrer, conservative bastions like
Moral Majority, the National Rifle Association and the Heritage
Foundation are currently in, but civil rights groups and minorities are
not faring as well.
And this from the Texas Freedom Nework president Kathy Miller
contributing to the Chronicle editorial page, full article at State
school board rewrites history at hard right angle
So with no outside input, board members worked late into the evening
to rewrite history according to their own points of view. Of course,
this is a terrible way to make education policy. And sure enough, the
standards are beginning to look more like a political manifesto than a
curriculum document.For example, a revised high school U.S.
history standard implies that Joseph McCarthy’s political smear campaign
in the 1950s was somehow justified. Another requires students to learn
about Phyllis Schlafly, Moral Majority and other conservative icons —
not because of their historical accomplishments but because of their
role in promoting conservative philosophies. There is no similar
standard asking students to study individuals or groups that simply
promoted liberal philosophies.One board member succeeded in
deleting the concepts of justice and responsibility for the common good
from a standard on citizenship. And the board is considering a standard
that suggests the civil rights movement brought about "unrealistic
expectations of equal outcomes."
And not to forget all the articles from Kick! on the Texas Board of
Education
Texas
Board of Education Moving Back to Creationism One Day After Vote
Texas
Board of Education Accepts Evolution
Texas
State Board of Education to Replace Lincoln with Jesus in textbooks
The
Face of the Texas Taliban, Cynthia Dunbar
Texas
Taliban Moves Intelligent Design to Texas Legislature
Texas
Taliban Education Decider Cynthia Dunbar Back in the News
Texas
Legislature Ousts Texas Taliban School Board Chair Don McLeroy
Trouble
with Texas Taliban Bible Course in Public Schools