Since many states get their textbooks from Texas and Texans are rewriting history, will

[mfcorey1]

the real story of how the Rethuglicans sabotaged the economic recovery during the administration Barack Obama be presented to students in history classes. One of the major academic influences in children's curriculum is the American Government class. Parents should always monitor those classes if the instructor tends to lean toward his own political beliefs. My grandson once told me that his history teacher said that Bill Clinton was the worst President ever. After a conference and much tension, I objected and had him removed from that class.

[slackmaster]

1. Please cite evidence that Texas _versions_ of school texts are widely used in other states

Thanks in advance.

[Electric Monk]

2. NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html

AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.

The vote was 10 to 5 along party lines, with all the Republicans on the board voting for it.

The board, whose members are elected, has influence beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest buyers of textbooks. In the digital age, however, that influence has diminished as technological advances have made it possible for publishers to tailor books to individual states.

In recent years, board members have been locked in an ideological battle between a bloc of conservatives who question Darwin’s theory of evolution and believe the Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles, and a handful of Democrats and moderate Republicans who have fought to preserve the teaching of Darwinism and the separation of church and state.

Since January, Republicans on the board have passed more than 100 amendments to the 120-page curriculum standards affecting history, sociology and economics courses from elementary to high school.

[slackmaster]

5. Cited article says Texas has influence beyond Texas because it's big, but that influence has...

"...diminished as technological advances have made it possible for publishers to tailor books to individual states....."

I ask again, is there evidence that many other states are actually using Texas _versions_ of school texts? Cited article doesn't mention any state other than Texas.

[Exilednight]

3. NPR did a whole story on this, but here's a link to Fux News and WaPo that pretty much explains

the entire situation.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/03/11/kelly-shackelford-texas-textbook-social-studies-standards-american-history/

Texas IS the largest consumer of textbooks, and thus their standards dictate what many other states use.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/08/21/57324/texas-history-gingrich/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/17/AR2010031700560.html

[slackmaster]

6. I'll skip the Fox and ThinkProgress links. WP article doesn't cite a single other state by name.

Thanks.

[Exilednight]

8. So basically, if you ignore it, it doesn't exist. But, if you want to know what states buy the same

books as Texas, well, here's a list.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas
California Colorado Connecticut Delaware
Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho
Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi
Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma
Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina
South Dakota Tennessee Utah
Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia
Wisconsin Wyoming

[slackmaster]

9. Cite, please.

Also some specific examples to link identical text editions being used in those states as in Texas, for which the content of the books is pertinent to the topic. I doubt that a Texas analytical geometry text says anything that would be relevant.

Thanks.

[Exilednight]

10. Science, history and social studies are the books that matter.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124737756

[slackmaster]

12. Vague is still vague. That little word "potentially" reduces this to potential news.

Not one state other than Texas mentioned.

Where is the threat? Who needs to take action to stop it? Will California be affected, or not?

Useless non-story is useless.

[Exilednight]

13. Alright, but don't act surprised when Texas textbooks are being used in your local

schools and you're sitting around wondering how the hell it was allowed to happen.

[glowing]

4. There is a reason the Bush family invests and owns publishing of school books.

If they control history, they can revise the evil roles their family has played throughout the history of America. If it was well known what families where involved in a fascist over throw of the United States, then the Doles and the Bush's would be non-known entities in our present day.

[MadHound]

7. We will have to wait at least twenty years to find out,

That's the usual waiting time for anything to get into the textbooks.

[jmowreader]

11. Reality for the naysayers

The Texas State Board of Education reviews every textbook on the market, and puts them in one of three categories:

Accepted: state money may be used to purchase these books.
Rejected, but contains at least half the approved curriculum: may be purchased with local money
Rejected, contains less than half the approved curriculum: these books may not be purchased by any school district in the state

Because school boards are not flush with cash, they tend to choose the books on the "accepted" list so they can spend state money to buy them. Since Texas buys about five million copies of any one category of books, the press runs are longer which makes the books cheaper. So...if your company wants to sell any schoolbooks at all they BETTER be written the way the Texas Board of Education wants them.