If "Ignorance is Bliss," then the proposed changes for grades K through 12 in Texas school textbooks will prove our upcoming generations some of the happiest people on the planet.
As a native Texan I am ashamed so few people, 10 to be exact, might in essence rewrite history to fall in line with their myopic thinking.
Gone from the pages of American history would be such iconic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Edward Kennedy and Cesar Chavez. Joe McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who was censured by the Senate years ago, would be viewed in a more positive portrayal.
Thomas Jefferson would no longer be included among the writers influencing the nation's intellectual origins. But in the view of the "good conservative Christian" members of the Texas State Board of Education the fact he helped pioneer the legal theory of the separation of church and state, does not make Mr. Jefferson a model founding father in the board's judgement.
Among the intellectual forerunners to be highlighted in Jefferson's place are: medieval Catholic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, Puritan theologian John Calvin and conservative British law scholar William Blackstone.
Other shifts in the reporting of history would be an emphasis on such organizations as the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association. Programs such as Title IX - which provides for equal gender access to educational resources - and affirmative action, intended to remedy historic workplace discrimination against African-Americans, would be said to have created adverse "unintended consequences" in the cirriculums preferred language.
There would be no mention of recent third-party presidential candidates such as Ralph Nader and Ross Perot. Meanwhile, the recommendations include an entry listing Confederate General Stonewall Jackson as a role model for effective leadership and a statement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis accompanying a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
One other addition to the texts would include country and western music among on of the nation's important cultural movements. The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.
The following paragraph is taken from the New York Times Magazine and tends to put a few things into perspective:
This is how history is made - or rather, how the hue and cry of the present and near past gets lodged into the long-term cultural memory or else is allowed to quietly fade into an inaudible whisper. Public education has always been a battleground between cultural forces; one reason that Texas' school-board members find themselves at the very center of the battlefield is, not surprisingly, money. The state's $22 billion education fund is among the largest educational endowments in the country. Texas uses some of that money to buy or distribute a staggering 48 million textbooks annually - which rather inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead. Texas, on the other hand, was one of the first states to adopt statewide cirriculum guidelines, back in 1998, and the guidelines it came up with (which are referred to as TEKS - pronounced "teaks" - for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were clear, broad and inclusive enough that many other states used them as a model in devising their own. And while technology is changing things, textbooks - printed or online - are still the backbone of education.
According to The College Board the 2009 SAT Scores by State place Texas 45th out of the 50 states. And, perhaps, more appalling, Texas is in 47th place in per capita student spending.
For a state ranking at the bottom of the list perhaps the entire Texas Board of Education should be replaced with members who value a competitive, quality education for our children as opposed to one filled with political content.
It is sad that revisionists gained control of the education of our children. I guess part of it is that we don't like the hear the gritty truth about our ancestors.
ReplyDelete