9486 in the collection
Board fight a lesson in social studies
Texas State Board of Education member comment reveals what is horribly wrong with the way curriculum is developed by an elected board that serves as a platform for the ultra-conservative members to promote a religious ideology. And provides plenty of ammunition for those advocating National Standards.
by Editorial Board
Don McLeroy, who couldn't muster enough votes in the Republican-dominated Texas Senate to win confirmation as chairman of the State Board of Education, has a curious notion of what qualifies someone as an expert.
"If two (board) members think they're qualified, they're qualified," McLeroy said. McLeroy, a Bryan dentist who retains his seat on the board, was discussing the selection of experts chosen to make recommendations on the state's social studies curriculum to be adopted next year.
Give the doctor points for candor, but securing two votes of people who agree with your views on religion and politics -- religion in politics in this case -- should not an expert make. McLeroy's comment reveals what is horribly wrong with the way curriculum is developed by an elected board that serves as a platform for the ultra-conservative members to promote a religious ideology.
The board has just opened a long process in revising the social studies curriculum, enlisting an advisory panel effort to guide their efforts. The panel includes Jesus Francisco de la Teja, former state historian and dean of the history department at Texas State University; Daniel L. Dreisbach, professor at American University's School of Public Affairs; Lybeth Hodges, history professor at Texas Woman's University; Jim Kracht, associate dean and professor at Texas A&M's College of Education and Human Development; Peter Marshall, president of Peter Marshall Ministries; and David Barton, president of WallBuilders. The latter two head evangelical organizations. On his Web site, Barton applauds himself on his historical research but obscures his academic credentials. He holds a bachelor's degree in religious education from Oral Roberts University but apparently no formal training as a historian. Marshall, who runs his ministry from Massachusetts, holds a seminary degree from Princeton.
Thus, they appear to be the people McLeroy had in mind when he made his two votes equals qualification comment. Or perhaps when he said: "Texans have decided that education is too important to be left to bureaucrats and unelected folks." Maybe the doctor should read up on Galileo for an idea of what happens when religious belief drives the teaching of science.
In a way, though, McLeroy is right. So few Texans vote in State Board of Education races that the winners can read any kind of mandate they wish into their victories.
That might be fine if the board didn't have any real authority or if Texas didn't have such a huge influence over the national textbook market. Even that wouldn't be quite so troublesome if the process emphasized scholarship over ideology.
Efforts by Republican legislators to reform the process dropped dead last session. So we're stuck with this one, and you can expect it to be a noisy affair that will sound like a tent revival without the music, replete with biblical quotations and assertions tailored to sound like history.
Legislators ought to take a long look and listen closely to the process, and then ask themselves if this is the best way to provide Texas students with the kind of knowledge they need to compete in a modern and global economy.
If the answer is yes, we'd all better pray that they are right, because the future Texas economy depends on it.
— Editorial Board
Austin American-Statesman
2009-07-19
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/2009/07/19/0719sboe_edit.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
