|
Texas Insider Report
Last week, the Texas State Board of Education released its updated Social Studies & History Standards as voted on in its last meeting. After review, Jonathan Saenz, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Liberty Institute of Plano, Texas, released the following statement: “Liberty Institute applauds the State Board of Education (SBOE) for their hard work and strong dedication to the students of Texas, and especially for maintaining the integrity and timetable of the curriculum standards review process, which includes five public hearings and over a year of work that began in early 2009 and will conclude in May 2010 with a final public hearing and final vote.”
“We are, however, concerned that a small vocal minority is now pressuring the SBOE to throw out these standards and begin the process anew to push a political agenda,” said Saenz.
“The public deserves to know that it was an unelected review panel, and not SBOE members, who removed Christmas, Albert Einstein and others from the standards, when this process began in 2009. The public also should know that it was a Texas professor, Jesus F. de la Teja, who proposed removing Alexander Graham Bell and Neil Armstrong completely and Columbus partially, from the social studies standards, while asking for the National Organization of Women (NOW) to be added,” Saenz said.
“This is surely not the common sense direction to go for the education of our children. Thankfully, the SBOE has corrected the missteps of others“, said Saenz.
Professor de la Teja criticized the SBOE at a Mexican American Legislative Caucus press conference, last month.
To help clear up public misrepresentations about the social studies standards, Liberty Institute has compiled a condensed list of approved social studies standards for study. Among those:
o Historical Figures: Neil Armstrong, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Columbus (voted back into standards, previously removed by unelected review committees (Columbus/Edison-partial).
o Tejano leaders: Juan N. Seguin, Lorenzo de Zavala, and Jose Antonio Navarro, others.
o Important Concepts: “American Exceptionalism”
o Contributions of Founding Fathers: John Hancock, John Jay, John Witherspoon, and numerous others
o Thomas Jefferson: Contribution of his political philosophy (he’s covered in four different sections)
o Religious Heritage: Impact of religion and Judeo-Christian legal tradition on America.
o Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Cases: Brown v. Bd of Education, Sweat v. Painter, Hernandez v. Texas, Roe v. Wade, Tinker v. Des Moines, Miranda v. Arizona.
o Cultural Leaders: Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, James A. Baker III, Hillary Clinton, Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan, Sam Walton, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E. B. Dubois, Irma Rangel, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Estee Lauder, Harriet Tubman, Todd Beamer, Mary Kay Ash, Roy Benavidez, John “Danny” Olivas, Henry B. Gonzalez, Jonas Salk, Hector P. Garcia, Carmen Loma Garza, Vernon J. Baker, Michael Dell, George Washington Carver, Michael DeBakey.
o Groups: LULAC, Black Panthers, NAACP, NRA, Moral Majority, Heritage Foundation.
Actual text of the approved standards and Jesus F. de la Teja’s review details can be found at Texas Legislative Update blog.
The Liberty Institute testified before the SBOE in the March meetings, and will continue to work on and monitor the meetings May 19-21, 2010.
The Liberty Institute is a non-profit policy and legal organization committed to protecting freedoms and strengthening families. Learn more at www.libertyinstitute.org.
Visit our Texas Legislative Update Blog at www.texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com
|
