Last summer Texas conservatives found a new way to force their beliefs down our throats, education. Every ten years the standards of textbooks are reviewed and these new standards will serve as a template for the material taught all across Texas classrooms. The members of the board chosen to do this are elected by Texans but have always had a greater influence across the states because of how large a textbook consumer Texas is. When the time came to vote on changes it didn't take long for the conservative majority to overrun the textbooks with their views on history and economics. The vote came down to party lines and the conservatives easily won with a 10-5 vote.The new textbooks that were agreed upon aim to stress the superiority of American capitalism, presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light, and questioning the founding fathers commitment to a purely secular government.
Heres the problem with all these changes, most people on this board have no real historical, sociology, or economic background. They do believe themselves to be experts on certain topics though, that should really make people more confident in their choices. How are we trusting our children's future in the hands of these unqualified people. Anyone who believes that Jefferson should be replaced by less secular leaders obviously knows nothing about History. Another member fighting for the downplay of separation of church and state was David Bradley, a real estate agent. Their replacement of the word capitalism with "free enterprise system" is a shameless way to make children see a broken system as the best thing since sliced bread. The conservative members like Dr. McLeroy, a dentist, believe that they are correcting a "liberal" bias found amongst the curriculum. These members also want to make clear the violent philosophy of the black panthers during the civil rights movement, not just concentrate on the peaceful protestors. This is a truthful addition but my gut feeling is that it was added for the purpose of downplaying the victimization of African Americans during this time. I could be wrong but that seems to be their main goal, paint themselves in a good light and all others as negative influences.They do want their credit for the civil rights legislation though, making sure that their votes for equal rights in congress were mentioned.
I find myself extremely outraged as a future social studies teacher to know that I will have no choice but to teach my students this one sided version of history. Showing that McCarthy had a small amount of proof in his witch hunt for communists doesn't make what he did any less wrong. Trying to counter the idea that the Japanese concentration camps weren't fueled by racism and showing negative consequences of affirmative action are just the beginning in a long line of conservative brainwashing. That is a strong term to use for what they are doing but I fully believe that what children learn when they are developing can affect their beliefs in the future. These textbooks are like a giant machine churning out future conservative Republicans to continue their dominance in Texas politics and society. The worst part is that they are missing out on the words of men like Jefferson and others who believed in a society with freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to not be force fed somebody elses beliefs. In the end, last summers vote was a sad day for teachers and students alike across this state, a dramatic statement backed by the future consequences of the dentists and real estate agents of today.
I agree with you on multiple fronts. When deciding on material to be covered in textbooks, experts on the subject should be at minimal consulted if not making the decisions themselves. I also believe that the changes you have described are not conducive to a wholesome education. For example, capitalism is definitely a broken system and portraying it in a positive light with euphemisms like “free enterprise system” is unsettling and certainly reflects some sort of conservative agenda.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it’s important to remember that interpretations of history reflect the atmosphere of the time, and you’re likely to find different interpretations as time goes on. Though, that certainly doesn’t excuse wrong or dubious interpretations. You mentioned that the members deciding the curriculum were trying to portray the philosophies of the Black Panther as violent while downplaying African American victimization. That’s definitely evident of some ideological bias. The Black Panthers weren’t violent as much as they were brilliant. (They found a loophole in California law that allowed them to carry guns in plain sight, and therefore did so to intimidate police officers and stop victimization of minorities. Absolutely brilliant!) So, I would definitely agree that the conservatives are offering a faulty re-envisioning of history. However, liberals aren’t so guilt-free either. On the same topic of the Civil Rights Movement, more liberal interpretations of history in textbooks have portrayed Rosa Parks as a courageous victim of southern discrimination, when in fact her arrest was both premeditated and a collaborative efforts between her and the numerous social justice and civil rights organizations she was a part of. But we didn’t learn that in 11th grade U.S. history, did we?
Like I said, interpretations of history very much have to do the atmosphere of the present time, and textbooks will reflect that. Obviously that does not justify or excuse biased interpretations. But instead of blaming poor quality textbook material on the Texan conservative agenda, the better course of action would be finding a system of portraying history as accurately as possible while recognizing that even the most extinguished historians are going to have their own interpretation bias.
I like the curriculum changes as much as you do—not a whole lot. But I’m not so quick to jump down conservatives’ throats. The biggest problem, as you pointed out, is the qualifications that these people lack that would allow them to mandate what is taught and what isn’t, and has much less to do with political ideology.
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ReplyDelete[Posted for Jennifer Klinger]
ReplyDeleteLaura’s editorial, “How dentists and real estate agents know more than you,” was informative and enlightening. The textbook issue in Texas is yet another flaw in our education system. It is a crisis that is frightening to contemplate as it affects everyone’s futures here in Texas.
It is worrisome, to say the least, how the mostly conservative Board of Education is able to dictate what kids learn in school. With that conservative bias on our text books, what else will students learn besides the conservative way? As difficult as it may be, I think text books should have no biases. As Laura said, I also believe children soak up everything they learn as a basis for their future beliefs. When all that is being fed to them is conservative ideals and a history painted with a positive conservative view, what else will kids turn out to be?
The downplay of the importance of separation of church and state is another huge issue of concern. There should be absolutely no link to religion and government. No connection whatsoever. Government decisions should not be fueled by the justifications of one’s religion. With children growing up with the mentality that secularism isn’t that important of an issue, out future leaders could bring religion into government.
I completely agree with Laura that these books the Board has passed are basically breeding another generation of conservative Republicans. This will ensure no liberal or Democratic influences will enter Texas government anytime soon.
I am glad I took my upper level high school social studies courses through Austin Community College. Maybe if I didn’t, my political views would be far less liberal than they are today.