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How Well Do You Know Your State Board of Education?

by Kathy Vine

Ever wonder who decides what your kids are
taught in school? It’s not their principals and
teachers. Nor is it their school’s
superintendent. The Legislature, maybe? Not
quite; the Legislature’s responsibility is to
write the education code, fund the schools, and
keep the state’s commitment to an
accountability system. Every once in a while a
lawmaker might pass a bill that authorizes
Bible classes or requires daily recitation of
the pledge of allegiance to the Texas flag, but
the Legislature isn’t responsible for
curriculum. Okay, then, how about the Texas
Education Agency and the commissioner of
education? Sounds right, but you’re wrong
again. The TEA’s role is simply (or not so
simply) to administer the education code.

Ready for the answer? The folks who decide what
Texas schoolchildren will learn are the fifteen
members of the State Board of Education. Don’t
worry if you can’t name a single one. Almost
nobody can! Members of this obscure panel are
elected in down-ballot races that generate
about as much media attention as an appointment
to the Funeral Service Commission, but they are
the ones who determine the classroom content
for every public- or charter-school student in
Texas. The board, currently composed of ten
Republicans and five Democrats, oversees the
process that establishes curriculum standards—
known as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills—
and adopts or rejects textbooks. Members serve
four-year terms and receive no financial
compensation. (You heard right: They do this
for free.) So how well do you know the powerful
volunteers who control your children’s
education? Take this quiz and see.

Pencils up . . . begin!

1. How many of the fifteen members of the State
Board of Education have experience teaching
children in a classroom?

A. All of them.
B. None of them.
C. Eight.
D. π.

2. True or false: Every member of the board has
a college degree.

A. True.
B. False.

3. How many members of the board have
homeschooled their children instead of sending
them to public school?

A. None, since no one who homeschools would
have a vested interest in public education,
right?
B. Only one, and the kid went on to Harvard,
but he’s kinda weird.
C. Two.
D. All of them.

4. Scientists believe that the earth is 4.5
billion years old. How old does Don McLeroy,
the chairman of the board, insist the earth is?

A. 3.5 billion years old.
B. 500 million years old.
C. A few thousand years old.
D. 2,008 years old.

5. "I believe a lot of incredible things,"
McLeroy told the New York Times, in June
2008, in an interview about evolution. "The
most incredible thing I believe is . . ."

A. "God created the universe in six days."
B. "I can fly."
C. "The Christmas story."
D. "That I am in control of education in
Texas."

6. In March the board debated creating a book
list of more than 150 literary works that would
be recommended for the classroom. After some
critics noted the small number of works by
authors from different cultures, McLeroy told
the San Antonio Express-News, "You really don’t
want Chinese books with a bunch of crazy
Chinese words in them. Why should you take a
child’s time trying to learn a word that
they’ll never ever use again?" Which of the
following Chinese words or phrases did McLeroy
admit could be useful for a child to learn?

A. Chow mein.
B. Kung Fu Panda.
C. Adios, mofo.
D. Ni hao ma? (How are you?)

7. In a letter to the governor in May, board
member Mary Helen Berlanga asked that he
replace McLeroy, a dentist, whom she called
what?

A. A master of deceit.
B. Criminally insane.
C. Dr. Crazypants.
D. A walking root canal.

8. Why did former Republican board member
Cynthia Thornton, who did not run for
reelection in 2006, request and receive extra
security from the armed Capitol guards at board
meetings?

A. She had received death threats from the
radical pro-evolution group the Darwinners.
B. A socially conservative Republican member
had physically threatened her for not voting in
a bloc.
C. She was concerned that the crowds of angry
protesters who frequently attend the board
meetings were likely to riot.
D. She had become convinced that a gorilla was
stalking her.

9. Earlier this year, while arguing for a back-
to-basics reading-standards proposal, board
member David Bradley told the Houston Chronicle
that “this critical thinking stuff is . . .”

A. “Hugely important.”
B. “Overrated.”
C. “Gobbledygook.”
D. “My specialty.”

10. In 1995 the Legislature decreed that the
board could reject a textbook only if it failed
to meet the state’s curriculum standards, had
factual errors, or had a poorly manufactured
binding. Two years later, Bradley demonstrated
his opposition to an algebra book that some
members criticized for its references to
environmental and political causes by doing
what?

A. Calmly explaining that “this is algebra
you’ll never use in the real world.”
B. Tearing off the cover and declaring, “Ladies
and gentlemen, worthless binding. I reject this
book.”
C. Shouting, “This book is full of lies!”
D. Setting it on fire, then sheepishly writing
a check for $56.13, the cost of the book.

11. In a recent interview with Texas
Monthly, board member Gail Lowe said, “The
National Academy of Sciences has still stated
that [evolution] is not a fact, and we don’t
believe evolution ought to be taught as a
fact.” What is the actual position of the
National Academy of Sciences?

A. Evolution is a working hypothesis with
significant weaknesses.
B. The evolution will be televised.
C. Evolution is both a fact and a theory.
D. I want a banana.

12. The current science curriculum standards,
approved by the board, state that students must
be taught the “strengths and weaknesses” of any
theory. Which of the following are theories
that, according to this view, could have both
strengths and weaknesses?

A. Evolution.
B. Relativity.
C. Universal gravitation.
D. The big bang.
E. Plate tectonics.
F. All of the above.

13. This past June, Bradley told a reporter for
the San Antonio Express-News, “Evolution
is not fact. Evolution is a theory and, as
such, cannot be proven.” He concluded:

A. “Intelligent design should be taught, since
it’s more intelligent.”
B. “This topic isn’t controversial among real
Christians.”
C. “Students need to be able to jump to their
own conclusions.”
D. “La cuenta, por favor.”

14. In 2002 the publisher of a sixth-grade
social studies textbook, hoping to ensure
approval from the board, altered certain
passages concerning the age of the earth to
avoid contradicting the Bible’s account of
creation, according to which the planet is
between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. One
sentence that was edited had explained that the
formation of the Great Lakes took place
“millions of years ago.” When did the new
sentence say that the Great Lakes were formed?

A. In the distant past.
B. Prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.
C. Thousands of years ago.
D. No one can remember.

15. In 2005 a member of the nonprofit Texas
Freedom Network, a watchdog group, recorded
McLeroy addressing the College Station
congregation at Grace Bible Church on the
subject of evolution. Though McLeroy has said
that he wouldn’t promote intelligent design in
public schools, he told the church that day:

A. That the pastor needed to do a better job of
teaching creationism in his sermons.
B. To “keep chipping away at the objective
empirical evidence.”
C. That he didn’t think God would punish him
for his voting record.
D. “Takesies backsies!”

16. Which of the following items have been
considered by the board to be too controversial
for high school health textbooks?

A. A line drawing illustrating a self-exam for
testicular cancer.
B. A woman holding a briefcase with a toddler
looking up at her.
C. A line drawing illustrating a self-exam for
breast cancer.
D. All of the above.

17. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Medical Association, and the American
Public Health Association all agree that health
classes geared toward adolescents should teach
students about condoms. Of the four high school
health textbooks approved by the board, how
many mention the word “condom”?

A. None.
B. One.
C. Two.
D. All.

18. One of the high school health textbooks
adopted by the board in 2004 suggests a
classroom exercise to promote abstinence called
“The Rose.” Students are asked to pass a rose
around the room and pluck the petals from it.
Each petal represents a sexual experience. The
teacher is instructed to wait until the rose is
bare and then tell the students what?

A. That they should try to glue the petals back
onto the rose and see how hard that is.
B. That so many sexual experiences will leave
them emotionally empty.
C. That roses without petals are ugly and no
one will want to buy them flowers.
D. That the activity does not apply to sex
within marriage.

19. This past May, nine of the fifteen board
members voted in favor of language arts
standards for phonics and grammar that were
opposed by a majority of English teachers in
Texas. Afterward, board member Ken Mercer sent
a letter to his mailing list stating, “It is my
belief that the [English] Coalition lobby was
mean, they lied, and they cheated. In the end,
they got a very well deserved spanking; and the
school children and educators of Texas have
content-rich standards for phonics, reading,
writing, and grammar.” See if you can find the
grammatical error or errors in these two
sentences.

A. Incorrect usage of the comma after “mean,”
in the first sentence.
B. “Well deserved” needs a hyphen, and
“schoolchildren” should be one word.
C. Incorrect usage of the semicolon after
“spanking.”
D. All of the above.

20. Complete this sentence: At a committee
meeting on July 16, 2008, McLeroy said that
education is too important . . .

A. “To be politicized.”
B. “To not be politicized.”
C. “To be taught in public schools.”
D. “To be left to officials paid nothing and
elected in low-profile, down-ballot races.”

ANSWER KEY: 1. c; 2. b (David Bradley and Rick
Agosto attended college but did not graduate);
3. c (Cynthia Noland Dunbar and David Bradley);
4. c; 5. c; 6. a; 7. a; 8. b; 9. c; 10. b; 11.
c; 12. f; 13. c; 14. a; 15. b; 16. d; 17. b;
18. b; 19. d; 20. b.


— Katy Vine
Texas Monthly
2008-10-01
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-10-01/feature5-1.php

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