The Texas State Board of Education has finished its revamping and re-writing of the curriculum that will be taught at all levels of primary and secondary education. In light of the fierce debate that has been proffered, members of the board have outlined what many consider a reconstruction of history for the nearly 5 million student’s state wide.The mostly conservative board, many of whom have no expertise in education have put in place a curriculum that is designed to display America in a more positive purview, especially as it pertains to the South, the civil war, slavery and the constitution. This process, which takes place once every decade, will force students to consider the opinions of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis as being equal to those of America’s 16th President Abraham Lincoln and that the American Civil War was fought principally as an issue of states’ rights more so than slavery. It even diminishes the slave trade calling it the “Atlantic triangular trade”. Specifically, students will study Jefferson Davis’ inaugural address alongside President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
The curriculum also minimizes the contributions of Thomas Jefferson as a founding father, questions the constitutional provision for the separation of church and state, and adds Ronald Reagan to a list of “great Americans.” Furthermore, it asserts the cultural importance of country music in America society, but does not list hip-hop or jazz as having comparable importance. The new curriculum also asserts that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists during the Cold War. Just last year, the board changed the science curriculum to reduce the role and teaching of both evolution and the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. The Texas curriculum also removed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” from the required reading list.
As expected, many on the left have severely criticized these actions. However, it also appears that these new standards will be accepted and may influence text books for many years to come. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
For more with Dr. Stephens, visit twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo and rawdawgb.blogspot.com.
The curriculum also minimizes the contributions of Thomas Jefferson as a founding father, questions the constitutional provision for the separation of church and state, and adds Ronald Reagan to a list of “great Americans.” Furthermore, it asserts the cultural importance of country music in America society, but does not list hip-hop or jazz as having comparable importance. The new curriculum also asserts that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists during the Cold War. Just last year, the board changed the science curriculum to reduce the role and teaching of both evolution and the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. The Texas curriculum also removed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” from the required reading list.
As expected, many on the left have severely criticized these actions. However, it also appears that these new standards will be accepted and may influence text books for many years to come. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
For more with Dr. Stephens, visit twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo and rawdawgb.blogspot.com.
