Could Texas's Gingrich-Based High School History Curriculum Go National?

[joeycola]

http://www.buzzflash.net/story.php?id=1035048

Could Texas's Gingrich-Based High School History Curriculum Go National?
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sent by OrpRam since 9 hours 48 minutes, published about 28 minutes


There's an education story bubbling up in Texas that could have very far-reaching consequences. -- The GOP-controlled State Board of Education is working on a new set of statewide textbook standards for, among other subjects, U.S. History Studies Since Reconstruction. And it turns out what the board decides may end up having implications far beyond the Lone Star State. -- The first draft of the standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out a kind of Human Events version of U.S. history. -- Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to "identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority." No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members. -- The state board of education, made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats, has to vote on the standards twice in the coming months before they would go into effect. Comments in the margin of the draft explain the proposed changes. And a persistent, tendentious conservative voice comes through throughout. -- Here's what makes this a national story: what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas, says Diane Ravitch, professor of education at NYU.:scared: