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Texas Conservatives Seek Deeper Stamp on Texts
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

AUSTIN, Tex. — Even as a panel of educators laid out a vision Wednesday for national standards for public schools, the Texas school board was going in a different direction, holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum that would portray conservatives in a more positive light, emphasize the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies in textbooks.

The hearings are the latest round in a long-running cultural battle on the 15-member State Board of Education, a battle that could have profound consequences for the rest of the country, since Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks.

The board is expected to take a preliminary vote this week on a raft of changes to the state’s social studies curriculum proposed by the seven conservative Republicans on the board. A final vote will come in May.

For instance, one guideline requires publishers to include a section on “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract with America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.”

There have also been efforts among conservatives on the board to tweak the history of the civil rights movement. One amendment states that the movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities. Another proposed change removes any reference to race, sex or religion in talking about how different groups have contributed to the national identity.

The amendments are also intended to emphasize the unalloyed superiority of the “free-enterprise system” over others and the desirability of limited government.

One says publishers should “describe the effects of increasing government regulation and taxation on economic development and business planning.”

Throughout the standards, the conservatives have pushed to drop references to American “imperialism,” preferring to call it expansionism. “Country and western music” has been added to the list of cultural movements to be studied.

References to Ralph Nader and Ross Perot are proposed to be removed, while Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate general, is to be listed as a role model for effective leadership, and the ideas in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address are to be laid side by side with Abraham Lincoln’s speeches.

One man asserted that the Tea Party movement should be included in the textbooks.( )

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Good for Texas, more people in this country need to follow their lead anyway. That state is a perfect example of conservatives running a state in a more fiscally responsible manner.

Libs got a hold of California and all those shit*y east coast states (NY) and just look at those upside down in the red bast*rds.

Dont even get me started on what the left has done to the public education system, national curriculum my ass
we need individual states to take care of their own the government proves time and time again they cant do it in anyway shape or form.

danefan wrote:

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Good for Texas, more people in this country need to follow their lead anyway. That state is a perfect example of conservatives running a state in a more fiscally responsible manner.

Libs got a hold of California and all those *****y east coast states (NY) and just look at those upside down in the red bast*rds.

Dont even get me started on what the left has done to the public education system, national curriculum my ass
we need individual states to take care of their own the government proves time and time again they cant do it in anyway shape or form.

Uhhhhh......Alfie......

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Yeah he sure showed me, I forgot Teddy was from Texas.

My bad.

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:So what?

Bush was running the country not Texas.

My point was they run that state a hell of a lot more fiscally responsible than other states and they dont even have a state income tax.

Even if I wanted to I couldnt link NCLB and Texas, nice try but you are comparing apples and walnuts.

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Dont even get me started on what the left has done to the public education system

danefan wrote:

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:So what?

Bush was running the country not Texas.

My point was they run that state a hell of a lot more fiscally responsible than other states and they dont even have a state income tax.

Even if I wanted to I couldnt link NCLB and Texas, nice try but you are comparing apples and walnuts.

I'm not trying to link Texas to NCLB. Reading comprehension is key. Notice the bolded section of your post which generally indicates the portion I was referring.

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Dont even get me started on what the left has done to the public education system

My point - which was incredibly clear and supported in fact, including actual reference to Ed.gov - was that the worst educational policy we have arguably ever seen in this country was in fact the brain child and inaguarial initiative instituted by a Republican president. The Dems in Congress may have helped it get through, but its a half-truth at best to blame our educational system's problems on the left without any reference to the "sins" of the Bush Admin, as you did in the above quote.

So, once again.....reading comprehension is key. Next time I'll spell it out for you better.

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:So true, the guy wasnt a conservative and now for sake of argument they want to act like he was.

native wrote:

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:So true, the guy wasnt a conservative and now for sake of argument they want to act like he was.

Bush had a couple of conservative accomplishments for which he deserves credit: Roberts and Alito.

native wrote:

danefan wrote:
I'm not trying to link Texas to NCLB. Reading comprehension is key. Notice the bolded section of your post which generally indicates the portion I was referring.



My point - which was incredibly clear and supported in fact, including actual reference to Ed.gov - was that the worst educational policy we have arguably ever seen in this country was in fact the brain child and inaguarial initiative instituted by a Republican president. The Dems in Congress may have helped it get through, but its a half-truth at best to blame our educational system's problems on the left without any reference to the "sins" of the Bush Admin, as you did in the above quote.

So, once again.....reading comprehension is key. Next time I'll spell it out for you better.

Do you lose this badly in court, counselor?

GW made many mistakes which the conks have not only acknowledge but loudly complained about!

Col Hogan wrote:As Governor of Texas, Bush so screwed up the higher education system that they are still trying to recover...

His centerpiece policy passed by the legislature mandated that any high school graduate in the top 10% of their high school class had automatic admittance to the state college/university of their choice...no questions asked...

Well, there are high schools in Texas that are so bad that kids in the top 10% would not be in the top 50% of an average high school...especially bad were schools from the Rio Grande area..."The Valley"...

When my son was looking at colleges in Texas in 2000, we were told the FRESHMAN class at UT and A&M, two schools he considered, would be 20 - 22 THOUSAND in September 2000 because of the Bush education policy...

George Bush was no friend of education...and is not a conservative...

Skjellyfetti wrote:But y'all all voted for him. And don't say because the alternatives were Kerry and Gore. There were 3rd party guys y'all could have voted for. And who did you vote for in the primary? My guess is Bush. Why wasn't there a massive revolt among true conservatives to force a primary in 2004?

It's just an easy cop out. Your guy was elected twice. Y'all defend him vigorously for 7.5 years. When it's apparent his terms were a failure... you just claim "Oh, he wasn't my guy anyway. I was just voting against Gore and Kerry. Bush wasn't a conservative and I held my nose and voted for him."

What a bunch of bullshit.

danefan wrote:

native wrote:
Do you lose this badly in court, counselor?

GW made many mistakes which the conks have not only acknowledge but loudly complained about!

Another one who can't read huh? All I said was that Bush did as much (if not more than) any so-callled "leftist" to destroy the public education system in this.....

So - how exactly was I wrong on that?

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:

danefan wrote:
Another one who can't read huh? All I said was that Bush did as much (if not more than) any so-callled "leftist" to destroy the public education system in this.....

So - how exactly was I wrong on that?

Dont spin it, the education system was piss poor before Bush got into office and the entire country knows it.

The teachers unions and the left has had control of it since the late 60s and now you want to nutshell it into 8 years. Even so Bush didnt fu*k it up as bad as it was before he got into office. We spend WAY to much money on education for what we get out of it and it would be the first place I cut the budget then onto social programs.

Now go ahead and rail on that and keep running in the red. Which was the point of the whole thread in the first place not education.

Skjellyfetti wrote:But y'all all voted for him. And don't say because the alternatives were Kerry and Gore. There were 3rd party guys y'all could have voted for. And who did you vote for in the primary? My guess is Bush. Why wasn't there a massive revolt among true conservatives to force a primary in 2004?

It's just an easy cop out. Your guy was elected twice. Y'all defend him vigorously for 7.5 years. When it's apparent his terms were a failure... you just claim "Oh, he wasn't my guy anyway. I was just voting against Gore and Kerry. Bush wasn't a conservative and I held my nose and voted for him."

What a bunch of bullshit.

Col Hogan wrote: I did not vote in the primaries...

Col Hogan wrote:and while Bush is not a true conservative, he was better than what was offered...

Col Hogan wrote: Call it a cop out...that so easy for you after the fact...