State Board of Education adopts new social studies textbooks on party-line vote
State Board of Education members on Friday gave final approval to a new generation of social studies textbooks and e-books that will reflect a more conservative view of U.S.history than books used for the past dozen years. The 89 books on the list were adopted along partisan lines, with all 10 Republicans voting yes and all five Democrats voting no.
Board member Mavis Knight of Dallas and other Democrats said they were not unhappy with publishers over their new books, but were very dissatisfied with the curriculum standards that publishers were required to meet, particularly for U.S.history. Those standards were originally adopted four years ago over the objections of Democrats, who complained they highlighted more conservative figures in history and were tilted toward a conservative point of view.
One digital publisher was penalized by the board, which voted Friday to remove their six proposed social studies e-books from the adoption list. That publisher, WorldView, came under fire for initially resisting suggestions for changes from the board and the public. WorldView submitted hundreds of proposed changes on Thursday in an effort to keep its materials on the adoption list, but it was too late. Only three board members voted to approve their books.
Although some members wanted to delay action because of all the late changes submitted by publishers this week, the board is under a Dec. 1 deadline to present their list of recommended textbooks and digital books to school districts. Current social studies books were adopted 12 years ago, so many of them are incomplete or out of date.
Read more: http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/state-board-of-education-adopts-new-social-studies-textbooks-on-party-line-vote.html/
