Texas Freedom Network: Politics and Curriculum Standards in Texas
Gov. Rick Perry has been doing all he can to solidify his support among far-right pressure groups. This weekend (July 2-3), for example, Gov. Perry will be speaking at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s Texas Defending the American Dream Summit in Austin....
Here was a panel that especially caught our eye: “Texas Textbook Wars & Curriculum Controversies.” Seeing that panel topic at an AFP confab is hardly a surprise to us. During the long debate at the Texas State Board of Education over proposed social studies curriculum standards, one of the voices in support of the changes coming from the board’s far-right faction was Peggy Venable, executive director of the Texas office of Americans for Prosperity (AFP)....
From the perspective of Texas educators – who have the charge to translate the standards into effective classroom instruction – the actions of the state board are likely to be harmful. In fact, six of the nine curriculum experts appointed by the board to write draft curriculum standards for the high school U.S. history course last year have denounced the board’s changes to their work this year. State board members also rejected a call from more than 1,200 historians for an expert review of the scores of changes board members made to the social studies standards.
We rather doubt that the AFP’s panel discussion on textbooks and curriculum this weekend will note those two salient facts. We expect Gov. Perry’s speech at the AFP meeting will similarly ignore them. Such is the politicized state of education in Texas today.
Read entire article at TFN Insider (Texas)
Here was a panel that especially caught our eye: “Texas Textbook Wars & Curriculum Controversies.” Seeing that panel topic at an AFP confab is hardly a surprise to us. During the long debate at the Texas State Board of Education over proposed social studies curriculum standards, one of the voices in support of the changes coming from the board’s far-right faction was Peggy Venable, executive director of the Texas office of Americans for Prosperity (AFP)....
From the perspective of Texas educators – who have the charge to translate the standards into effective classroom instruction – the actions of the state board are likely to be harmful. In fact, six of the nine curriculum experts appointed by the board to write draft curriculum standards for the high school U.S. history course last year have denounced the board’s changes to their work this year. State board members also rejected a call from more than 1,200 historians for an expert review of the scores of changes board members made to the social studies standards.
We rather doubt that the AFP’s panel discussion on textbooks and curriculum this weekend will note those two salient facts. We expect Gov. Perry’s speech at the AFP meeting will similarly ignore them. Such is the politicized state of education in Texas today.