SBOE Conservatives Allege Islamic Bias in Textbooks
Members of the State Board of Education’s hard-right wing appear poised to inject themselves in the national fray over Islamic influence in America with a resolution warning textbook publishers that a “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted some past Texas Social Studies textbooks.”
Oddly, the resolution emanated from Randy Rives, a candidate for State Board of Education District 15. Rives lost the Republican primary — badly — to the more moderate incumbent Republican, Bob Craig of Lubbock.
“It’s a little unusual,” says Board Chair Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas. “We don’t typically have resolutions brought by members of the public,” particularly a ...
Comments (2)
Kenneth Collier
Some people sit around all day desperately searching desperately for something to be offended by. Why are there more lines about Islam than Christianity? Because our kids are already familiar with Christianity. My daughter's high school math textbook doesn't do anything to explain counting or addition and subtraction. Is that because the publisher is anti-arithmetic?
Everyone wants to play victim in America--even the people who hold all the power. If these SBOE nuts would spend more time thinking about what our kids need and less time dealing with their own needs to feel validated, we might not be watching our SAT scores slide further below the national average.
Truth Hurts
I'd think this resolution violates the Establishment Clause. But, IMHO, so does much of the process involved in passage of the Social Studies curriculum. And so it goes ...