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In Texas, a curriculum commission recommends that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be removed from social science classes in the name of "rationalization." (Mary Altaffer / AP)
The Texas Board of Education – known for a long series of controversies over what students should and should not learn in social studies – has taken action to remove Hillary Clinton from the program.
Really.
The Dallas Morning News reported that on Friday, the board of directors, in a preliminary vote, agreed to remove a number of historical personalities, including Clinton and Helen Keller, in an effort to streamline standards -12. A final vote will take place in November.
The board took into account the recommendations of the study program made by volunteer groups appointed by the board of directors, adopting some and ignoring others. For example, he ignored a recommendation to remove a reference to "heroism" from Alamo supporters, according to a statement from the Board of Education, which said:
Texan schoolchildren will still learn the heroic letter "Victory or Death" written by Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis, besieged at Alamo, as part of simplified social standards approved Friday by the National Board of Education.
The board of directors rejected a proposal from an advisory group that proposed removing the specific reference to the famous letter and removing the word "heroic" to describe the heroes of Alamo.
Instead, the council voted unanimously to include this revised version in the seventh years of Texas history: "Explain the issues surrounding the important events of the Texas revolution, including the battle of Texas. Gonzales, the seat of the Alamo the people of Texas and all Americans in the world "and the heroism of the various defenders who gave their lives; the Constitutional Convention of 1836; The surrender of Fannin to Goliad; and the battle of San Jacinto.
It should be noted: According to several websites (History.com, a site hosted by the Texas A & M University, among others), the author of the letter "Victory or Death" is the Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis, not William Barrett Travis. I guess the school board did not do its homework.
Why did the board vote in favor of the appointment of Clinton – the first presidential candidate of a major party, which won more votes than Republican candidate Donald Trump; a US Senator, a US Secretary of State; and a first lady – the program?
The Dallas Morning News reported:
The Dallas Morning News has spoken with two volunteer group teachers appointed to the board who made the recommendations. Both said that the state required that students learn about so many historical figures that it entailed the memorization of dates and names by heart instead of real learning.
The 15-member working group proposed a rubric for classifying each historical figure to determine who is "essential" to learn and who is not. The formula posed questions such as: "Has the person triggered a decisive change? "Did the person belong to an under-represented group"? and "Will their impact stand the test of time?"
On 20 points, Keller scored a 7 and Clinton scored a 5. The elimination of Clinton's requirements will allow teachers to save 30 minutes of instruction time, the task force has estimated, and eliminate Keller will save 40 minutes.
This is not the first time that the curriculum decision has been challenged in the state of Lone Star.
In 2014, scientific journals covering 43 proposed history, geography and government textbooks revealed numerous inaccuracies, biases and exaggerations, such as:
- the idea that Moses and Solomon inspired American democracy;
- that at the time of segregation, "sometimes" schools for black children were "of lower quality";
- that Jews consider Jesus Christ as an important prophet.
In 2010, a controversy erupted over an offer by conservatives from the State Board of Education to qualify the grotesque slavery of American slavery of "triangular trade of the Atlantic." There were others: a proposal to remove Thomas Jefferson from the program and replace it with John Calvin; demanding that capitalism be characterized simply as a "free enterprise system" (mainly because the word "capitalism" is apparently perceived negatively) and a language that softens the despicable legacy of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy.
[Proposed Texas textbooks are inaccurate, biased and politicized, new report finds]
The National Board of Education has also approved a new course titled "Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies," the first course on ethnic studies approved by the Texas board.
Curriculum controversies continue in Texas because uncompromising Conservatives are still present in the Council of Education, and they appoint members of groups who recommend changes. In 2014, the Texas Freedom Network (TFN), a non-profit association, published a review of panels selected by the Texas Board of Education to review the textbooks proposed in this cycle of curriculum changes. He said in part:
Of the more than 140 group appointees, only three are faculty members at Texas colleges and universities. The PNT has identified more than a dozen other Texas academics – including the chair of the Department of History at Southern Methodist University and professors at the University of Texas at Austin – who have applied but have not got an appointment.
The Texas Freedom Network's analysis revealed that political activists and people without a social studies degree or teaching experience had spots on the billboards.
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