Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Texas Board of Ed Questions American History

Debate is raging over the setting of new social studies standards: Indoctrination of political correctness vs. teaching historical fact to 4.7 million Texas students

-- From "Social studies book panel has hands full" by Gary Scharrer, Austin Bureau, The Houston Chronicle 11/23/09

. . . does Sikhism, the world's fifth most popular religion, deserve more mention, as some adherents advocate?

Have too many women and minorities been included in proposed curriculum standards to appease political correctness? Or are worthy women and minorities lacking in class materials?

What were the religious influences on the Founding Fathers?

. . . “Do you want history presented as a patchwork of minorities and women versus white males — or as a constantly improving homogenous American society working through its problems?”

“History can only be so many pages. Teachers can only get through so much material in a year,” said board member Terri Leo, of Spring. “History has to be historically significant to be included in the history textbooks.”

Some board members want students to learn more about the religious influences on the Founding Fathers. Critics say that is OK as long as the board does not try to suggest the founders set out to develop a Christian nation with laws and government based on a fundamentalist reading of the Bible.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

For background info, click here for previous article.