Texas School Board Rewriting History for the Worse

I love history. It is one of my favorite subjects in school.

I just find it interesting to look back in the past and draw parallels to today. Of course to do this, the history text must be accurate, and give all sides of an issue.

But I guess the Texas school board has decided that giving all sides isn't needed anymore.

According to the New York Times story published March 12, the Texas School board, which is an elected body, decided it would be a good idea to inject a more "conservative" view of American history, science and economics textbooks.

Why does this matter to you? Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks, and what they decide is appropriate in a book is what is used by schools across the country.

Here are some of the amendments the board made that was deemed appropriate:

• Teaching how the Venona papers "legitimized" McCarthy's claim of communist infiltration.
• The "unintended consequences" of Title IX, affirmative action and the Great Society.
• Cutting out Thomas Jefferson (you know, the guy who penned the Declaration of Independence) and replacing him with St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and William Blackstone
• To show that some Republicans voted for the civil rights acts and to mention the violent protests of the Black Panthers with the non-violent style of Dr. King.

But that isn't the scary part, what some of the "expert" board members are quoted saying is where the creep show begins.

• “I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a real estate man.
• “History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left," said Dr. Don McLeroy

There were more, but my skin is already crawling.
And it isn't that they are wrong, as one of them said, they are attempting to balance history, which is how history should be presented.

But that isn't what is happening. What is happening is that a conservative, white-washed view of history is being given. Amendments describing the actions of Latino Americans were struck down, prompting another member, Mary Helen Beranga, to say that the board was going overboard, and that “they can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don’t exist.”

Mavis Knight added that "the social conservatives have perverted accurate history to fulfill their own agenda.”

Sadly, both of these women are correct.

But here is my question: Why weren't expert historians, sociologists, scientists and economists (from both the left and right) consulted by the board to create a text that gives a balanced view of the subjects?

I've already stated before my idea on the teaching of evolution in a science class here, and I feel the same way in other subjects.

In economics, instead of teaching the concepts and "superiority" of a "free-enterprise system" (capitalism) teach the concept of the system, and let the student decide how they feel about it.

In regard to history, teach the Venona papers, but also teach how McCarthy went overboard and drummed up support using fear by invading personal rights. They didn't call it the Red Scare for nothing. Also, teach that the Founding Fathers did put in the Constitution a "separation of church and state," but that the phrase doesn't mean there is a "separation from religion" and that the concept is a complicated issue.

But, they did get the basic idea of the civil rights movement right, so these amendments weren't all bad, just most of them.

To stay in history, and cross over into political science, students should learn about the conservative resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s headed by Ronald Reagan and powered by the Moral Majority and the NRA...it is apart of history. But they should also learn about the New Deal and LBJ's "Great Society," as well as other political ideological movements in the course of the nation.

Think of it in this regard: What good would it be learning about the Federalist papers if you didn't learn about the Anti-federalist papers?

The major point is this: School subjects, be it history, economics, sociology, science, psychology, math, shouldn't have a political agenda behind them. All sides should be represented, and the facts should be verified by experts and presented to students.

Students should be given the hard facts of a subject, and then encouraged to form their own opinions on the matter and defend them using the facts.

These school board people mean well, but they are failing the students, and not necessarily with the material.

They are depriving the students the right, and challenge, of forming their own opinions and thinking for themselves, and that is what our eduction system is really missing.