A sobering story from the meeting of the Texas School Board:
Don McLeroy, a small, vigorous man with a shiny pate and bristling mustache, proposed amendment after amendment on social issues to the document that teams of professional educators had drawn up over 12 months, in what would have to be described as a single-handed display of archconservative political strong-arming.
McLeroy moved that Margaret Sanger, the birth-control pioneer, be included because she “and her followers promoted eugenics,” that language be inserted about Ronald Reagan’s “leadership in restoring national confidence” following Jimmy Carter’s presidency and that students be instructed to “describe the causes and key organizations and individuals of 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.” The injection of partisan politics into education went so far that at one point another Republican board member burst out in seemingly embarrassed exasperation, “Guys, you’re rewriting history now!” Nevertheless, most of McLeroy’s proposed amendments passed by a show of hands.
Finally, the board considered an amendment to require students to evaluate the contributions of significant Americans. The names proposed included Thurgood Marshall, Billy Graham, Newt Gingrich, William F. Buckley Jr., Hillary Rodham Clinton and Edward Kennedy. All passed muster except Kennedy, who was voted down.
It’s hard for me to believe this goes on in other Western countries. On the bright side, I suspect it goes on in some form in China too.
Midnight Marauder
I guess we have different definitions of “the bright side.”
gwangung
My Chinese compatriots, unlike these Texans, know what they’re doing.
DougJ
@gwangung:
Probably true.
JGabriel
I don’t know about China, but the “Kill the Gays” law in Uganda suggests we’ve successfully imported the technique there.
.
Tonal Crow
Lysenko would be proud. Fortunately, most students required to study history really hate it, and thus the postmodern GOPers who’re pushing this crap are unlikely to get much of what they want. It might even backfire.
GambitRF
If they’re going to be this blatant about it, they should just save on printing costs and not even give kids textbooks, just print them out some leaflets with a table with two columns:
Good:
God
Jesus
Reagan
Guns
Newt Gingrich
Bombing the shit out of stuffStrong National SecurityBad:
Libruls
Hippies
Socialists
Nazis
Terrerists
The Russkies
Michael Moore
Al Gore
Tell them to memorize that and listen to Rush’s show every day and they’ll be pretty much set.
Emma
At the rate it’s going, American high school degrees will be worth less than the paper they’re printed on… the funny part is that if all the other states notified the textbook people that they will NOT be purchasing any textbooks made to Texas specifications they would have to back down. Texas is a huge market but can they afford to lose everyone else?
And if I were a parent I would seriously be looking into homeschooling.
zhak
“Conservative resurgence” = American decline.
:-(
Dave Fud
I think “history is bunk” is probably limited to schools. In China, my understanding is that it is difficult to get accurate history at all. At least here, after you are indoctrinated, you can theoretically find unapproved history to learn.
Of course, since you are then cast out on your own to learn, there is no telling about the quality of what you come across.
rootless_e
Why does this happen? Because the pre-Obama liberals and progressives SUCK! The school board seats are elective and as recently as 2008, some of the worst came up for election and ran unopposed. Liberals spent more time writing articles on this terrible situation for the Nation than they did running candidates. Whining and Losing! So please, help strike a blow against traditional liberalism and progressivism.
http://www.voterebecca.com/
mcc
I seriously do wonder sometimes if California could be persuaded to pass a law barring public schools from using textbooks that fully meet the Texas curriculum requirements.
LuciaMia
Ah, Texas, trying to prove the de-evolutionary theory. ‘How far back can you go?’
justcorbly
Just one more reason not to live in Texas, or be in Texas, or buy from Texas, or hire anyone from Texas… you get the drift.
MCC: Lobbying state legislatures to ban textbooks meeting Texas requirements is a wonderful idea. Spread the word!
Zifnab
In all fairness, it’s usually a bit more top-down in China. As in, you’d have Governor Rick Perry showing up to one of these things, firing everyone who disagreed with him, and just rewriting history as he saw fit after the fact.
Honestly, I don’t know what they hope to accomplish with all of this at the end of the day. Parent who aren’t swimming in the kool-aid are going to be rather upset when they find out their kids are spending six weeks on a chapter dedicated to “Newt Gingrich: Super Fantastic Awesome Wonderful Guy”. And I’m sure the various lower-class middle and high school teachers who are all members of a teacher’s union are going to absolutely love teaching how Ronald Reagen’s union busting lead us all to a brighter tomorrow.
At least when conservatives were trying to pack conservative ideologues into universities, they were trying to influence the curriculum in a logical manner. This is just inviting massive backlash.
SiubhanDuinne
This is O/T but I haven’t seen an open thread in quite a while: Mods, any chance we can have an Olympics thread thrown up in a few hours so we can liveblog the Opening Ceremonies? I believe NBC coverage starts at 9:00 (our fortunate Canadian friends are getting nonstop CBC or CTV coverage). Thanks in advance.
demkat620
I had a winger friend inform me today that he did just fine under Bush and the only people who were and who did have trouble were the people who want handouts.
Life was great for him from 2001-2009 and only unpatriotic people didn’t think it was great the last eight years.
Zifnab
@mcc:
You might have luck getting it passed as a state Constitutional Amendment.
Silver Owl
I wonder why the shiny pated and bristling mustachioed patriarch didn’t just say, “Conservative pee-pees rule!”
Incertus
How does the old hymn go again? “Onward Christian Historians! Turning back the clock!”
Tonal Crow
@rootless_e: Very good points. I’ll check the site and contribute if she passes my background checks.
JGabriel
@mcc:
Let’s make it a trifecta and add New York and Illinois. Maybe we can talk Pennsylvania into making it a foursome. Or NJ and Mass.
That should provide a large enough block to swamp any other state, or group of states, and stop them from polluting the textbook market with false history and pseudo-science.
.
rootless_e
@justcorbly: The results of “liberals” writing off Texas have not been good. The wingers have an evangelical approach. To them, liberal Massachusetts or even Vermont just needs enough hard work and spreading the word, organization building and leadership nurturing and they’ll be able to elect Scott Brown Senator. The enlightened Liberals, however, have decided that the ignorant and unwashed just need to be either ignored or told that they are ignorant and unwashed in order to make everyone feel better.
This really annoys me, because I bought into that theory myself at one time.
Jager
Friend of mine from Dallas said, “these assholes have turned us into Mississippi with good roads and now I’m going to have to send my kids to school in Mexico!”
mr. whipple
I heard some luge dood from Georgia died at the Olympics today. Let’s hope it was Zell Miller.
They really shouldn’t let people from Georgia compete in the winter Olympics, they hardly ever see snow.
BB
I am an academic in Atlanta, but was asked to testify before the Alabama state textbook committee about a textbook for a public high school course in biblical literature (yes, they can do that so long as it is at least nominally objective). I had to comment on a book called the Bible in History and Literature, I think. I panned the curriculum because it was obviously evangelical Christian indoctination that argued that the US us a Christian nation, etc. My main arguments were that the curriculum was laughable from a scholarly point of view, and also that the curriculum was awfully prejudiced against Jews, not to mention Muslims, atheists, or even Catholics. Besudes a representative from the ACLU, I was the only person against the curriculum. It was a three hour parade of madness; ridiculous people from the Trinity Broadcasting Network and former Bama football players talked about how Jesus needs to take over the school system. I felt like I was on Mars. A state Senator got up and literally said, “how many Jews we got in this state?” implying that it was ok to malign minorities. He then got mad that a different textbook mentioned Dostoyevski, because he is a “Russian existentialist communist atheist.” Of course, they adopted the antisemitic textbook. I fear for the future, with brainwashed loonies running the ship.
Incertus
@JGabriel: I’d like to throw Florida in the mix as well, but we’re ruled by our wingnut cousins to the north–the “up-south” part of the state, as Amy likes to call it. In all seriousness, though, Texas is the reason why I get excited about any sort of e-book reader, because the amount of money that publishers spend on printing and shipping dead-tree books, while usually over-estimated, is not negligible, and anything that moves us toward e-books in the classroom moves us away from the current situation where Texas is dominant.
Annie
So much for American “exceptionalism.” Instead of international students wanting to come to the US to study, because of the supposed belief in the value of our educational institutions, US students will start applying to foreign educational institutions to get the kind of education they can no longer get here.
This is all part of the “dumbing down” of America, brought to you be such notable intellectuals as Sarah Palin and the rest of the wingnut crew. Next comes intelligent design instead of science in all science curricula.
The narrative is there and getting stronger. We should no longer encourage our children to succeed and strive to be the best. That is elitism…We should no longer hope that our political leaders are well educated. That is elitism. Instead, we should encourage our children to be mediocre. To try out 5 different colleges before they barely graduate. And still have no understanding of US history, and the history of US relations in the world.
And, we should look to other countries to be the next generation of innovators, to be intellectually well-prepared, to be the doctors, lawyers, teachers, and engineers. We should no longer value innovation and future thinking (green technology). No, our legacy will be the turning over of our “brain trust” to other countries, who will eventually surpass us in every way that matters.
2wrongs
I don’t know who your friend is who “did just fine” under Bush. My index funds halved.
Is he some kind of super investor that gets out just at the right time?
TR
Yes. I’m perfectly happy to let Texas go its own way — seriously, Governor Goodhair, secede already — but their stupidity is dragging the rest of us down.
Comrade Dread
Can’t wait to read the chapter on how John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and that guy who played Patton took down Charlie Chaplin and his Nazi regime.
BB
Just wanted to follow up to my comment above – these are the people behind the conservative textbook movement I described above (celebrity supporter: Chuck Norris, of course): http://www.bibleinschools.net/
That textbook I mentioned (The Bible in History and Literature) is now used in 38 states, in more than 2000 schools. Here’s a taste of what it’s like: the picture on the cover is of the Declaration of Independence next to an American flag (no joke). Here’s a review of it (for those with strong stomachs):
http://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/BreedRichardsReview.pdf
There’s lots of Don McLeroys out there, and they all suck just as bad as he does.
JK
Doug,
Didn’t you get the memo that You Don’t Mess With Texas.
Josh Huaco
I’m sure that will follow the chapter about how slavery really wasn’t that bad and the slaves were well-fed and happy and at least they had jobs and weren’t on welfare. And that will follow the chapter about how the Plymouth Colony was super because it was the founding of our Christian nation and nevermind that uppity hussy Anne Hutchinson.
Xanthippas
@rootless_e:
Yeah, the best way to motivate people to vote for your candidate is to dump on them for sucking. Also, nobody actually down here in Texas “written off” Texas.
And BTW, can we either have a rule against A) dumping on the whole state of Texas or B) doing any blog posts on Texas at all? Though, it took a full 28 comments for somebody to mention secession, so I guess that’s progress.
rootless_e
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/02/12/english-only-education/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Incertus
@Josh Huaco: Oh, you mean the history book I had when I was in high school 25 years ago? the one that called the Civil War “the War of Northern Aggression”?
rootless_e
@Xanthippas:
“Also, nobody actually down here in Texas “written off” Texas.”
It would surprise me a great deal if any of the people above who wrote off Texas are from Texas. Maybe you misread what I wrote.
scudbucket
It’s hard for me to believe this goes on in other Western countries.
What, you mean shaping historical events to present a favorable view of dominant culture’s ideology? No. That doesn’t occur anywhere but Texas.
CalD
I read somewhere the other day that Rick Perry had been talking about secession again. The question rolling around in my mind is, if we did let them go off and be their own country, how long would it be before we were at war with them?
demkat620
@2wrongs: No, he’s a guy who constantly whines about the coming “Tax Increases”
They have passed yet but he knows, oh he knows. Obama can’t fool him.
Chad N Freude
@Zifnab: It really doesn’t matter, because CA doesn’t have any money to buy *any* textbooks.
Josh Huaco
I think the proper question is, how long would it take before the Second No Really It’ll Work This Time We Promise Republic of Texas became Rwanda on the Red River and we’d have to send in the UN.
HyperIon
@Annie: So much for American “exceptionalism.”
Do you know the meaning of this term? It is not “All things American are fabulous” as you seem to imply in your comment. Instead it means “We’re so special that we can do whatever we want” as in “Rules are for other people”.
Chad N Freude
@Annie:
It’s an American tradition.
jl
Maybe we should just officially adopt the Southern Baptist Convention, or whatever it is, as the official national religion, and tell school teachers to go hog wild on Xtianist propadanda in the schools.
Have a catechism, with ‘chaste’ little bottom spankings as punishment for getting any dot and tittle wrong.
Show instructional films on how to use volence to train a weiner dog to use the toilest like a person, and tell the kids that is what God wants us to do.
We will have a mostly athiest nation in 20 years.
Ignorant as heck, and psychologically even more messed up than now, but mostly atheist.
The Republic of Stupidity
Confirming once again why net neutrality is one of the most important political issues out there.
Annie
@HyperIon:
I know, I know….I am an international development person, who well understands the history of the US role in the world.
However, I am borrowing the term to make a point. Our educational institutions — particularly our universities — always have been valued abroad. They used to be seen as places of innovation, open debate, intellectual thought, etc. We used to encourage our children to strive to be the best they can be in whatever profession they chose. Now, the narrative being pushed by the right, is that to attend good schools and do well is somehow elitist. I didn’t go to an Ivy League university, but my parents always stressed the value and importance of education. Now, the narrative is that our schools are crap, our universities are indoctrination centers, and our attempts to be innovative and forward thinking are somehow socialist plots.
Annie
@Chad N Freude:
LOL. Except I think I will cry instead…
Steeplejack
@2wrongs:
Probably middle management at Halliburton.
Oscar Leroy
LoL at that )
Church Lady
Hey Doug, can we take bets on the political affiliation of the woman that just killed a bunch of people at a Biology Department meeting at the University of Alabama Huntsville? Word is that she was pissed that she didn’t get tenure. It’s a know fact that people that open fire on groups are usually Conservative. Are there any Conservative academics in higher education? If there are, are they qualified to teach, given that most Conservatives are retarded?
Chad N Freude
@Annie: It was pretty funny at the time. Now, not so much.
HyperIon
@Annie: However, I am borrowing the term to make a point.
I guess you’re of the Humpty Dumpty School: “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean.”
Look, I understand your point and it’s a valid one. It just doesn’t have anything to do with “American Exceptionalism”.
Ana Gama
@GambitRF:
Pfffft…why memorize when you’ve got two hands to scribble on?
schrodinger's cat
I don’t know about China but in India BJP (the right wing Hindu Nationalist Party) tried rewriting the textbooks in India the last time they were in power, I don’t know how far they succeeded. Religious fundamentalists everywhere, seem to love this mantle of victimhood, they are always complaining about being oppressed but I find their definition of oppression rather peculiar. In their world, oppression means not being able to shove their beliefs down other people’s throats.
Annie
@HyperIon:
Yep…I did go to the “Humpty Dumpty School,” and I did well and I did graduate despite the pompous asses who also attended…
Chad N Freude
@Church Lady:
Yes. Try the University of Chicago Economics faculty. (Abstract, full article is behind a paywall.)
Josh Huaco
If that’s the case, we might as well take bets on whether she’s a redhead or left-handed, because both are just as relevant to the shooter’s motives as her politics.
Bullsmith
Who said nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people? Barnum? Hell Barnum would’ve happily taken credit for it any way.
I have to wonder if the old truism isn’t finally being put to the test.
Chad N Freude
@Josh Huaco: A comment on the story at the Huntsville Times website:
rootless_e
@Church Lady:
Are there any Conservative academics in higher education?
Lots.
If there are, are they qualified to teach, given that most Conservatives are retarded?
No they are not qualified. They are dipshits
Example: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hmansf/
Josh Huaco
@Chad N Freude:
(rolls eyes at stupidity) If only we had better guns laws in this country, people wouldn’t have to worry about “carrying defensive weapons” because they’re terrified that someday they’ll have to plug some hot lead into a terrorist at the local Cheddar’s.
gwangung
Yeah. Lots in engineering schools, some in medicine and LOTS in business schools.
Chad N Freude
@gwangung: Yep.
gwangung
@Chad N Freude: Quite a few are quite good in their subject. And quite a few made out quite well in the past two bubbles.
And there were those who did both…
Chad N Freude
@Josh Huaco: Twenty plus years ago, pre-TSA, on a plane, I overheard a Texan (not snark, he said so) talking about the felony conviction of a woman friend who was tried for attempting to carry a handgun onto a plane. He was outraged because she had merely forgotten the gun was in her purse, and they treated her like a criminal!
Chad N Freude
@gwangung: That New Yorker article is excellent, and raises the hope that academic economists are becoming much less committed to the Greenspan School of Market Perfection.
EDIT: The article does a good job of summarizing the evolution of the field from messy Keynesianism to sleek, high-tech, Toyota-like market perfectionism.
Church Lady
@Josh Huaco: Hey, DougJ is really into ascribing political leaning as motive for going postal. Remember Pittsburgh? Tim was on that one like white on rice, too. Remember upstate New York? Oops, had to pull that one back; dude was an immigrant that didn’t speak English – def not a Conservative. Uh, look down just a few postings from here – OMG a crazy Tea Partier married to a Cambridge psychiatrist and involved in a domestic dispute must be getting ready to take out a bunch of Libs But of course he’s crazy (and a hated Conservative) – after all, TPM says he’s a Tea Partier, so it must be true.
Dr. Amy Bishop, Alabama sharpshooter, is a Harvard educated liberal (although one of her students was a little harsh on RatemyProfessor.com and called her a dreaded “Soc##list”) that got pissed off in a departmental meeting when she found out she wasn’t getting tenure, pulled a gun out of her purse, and opened fire.
Let the excuses begin. I’m sure there’s some way this this is Sarah Palin’s fault. Also. Too.
gwangung
@Chad N Freude: Sounds interesting…may look it up at school.
I just happen to work at a school who had a lot of faculty become rich, some of whom fortuitously, some of whom were quite sharp (and would have prospered no matter what happened; just like any other people). Schools are considerably different than what a lot of people think; it seems to me that this is another aspect of refighting the 60s/70s, based on old, out-dated data.
Delia
@Church Lady:
Ya know, you’re really stretching for your point here. There’s no obvious marker for national political affiliation in this story. The one that’s glaring all over it is the brutality of academic politics these days when there are several hundred qualified people lining up for every tenure track opening and all sorts of intradepartmental games can cause even a well-qualified person to lose their tenure bid. We don’t know what was going on with this person. It’s the first time I’ve heard of a female being the shooter. I surmise this was her tenure committee and they were bringing her the bad news. She obviously wasn’t surprised since she brought the gun.
She should have just spiked the coffee with cyanide or something. Maybe I read too much crime fiction.
Tax Analyst
DougJ:
Yeah, just last night I happened to read the NY Times Magazine piece that your excerpt is from. “Sobering” is definitely a good description. I already knew Texas had a huge impact on school textbook materials, but it is even worse than I had previously heard.
Chad N Freude
@gwangung: But schools indoctrinate the young! Except in Texas, of course.
John Cole
@Church Lady: You aren’t a moderate or a middle of the roader, you’re an idiot.
Get back to me when there is a trend of left-wingers shooting up public shit. If there had only been one right-wing nutjob who had shot up the country, no one would be drawing any conclusions.
I honestly don’t know how people like you make it this far. I’m shocked you haven’t been killed trying to cross a road or something.
RSA
Actually, on the bright side, I can’t remember a history class in grade school or high school that made it as far as the Second World War.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@John Cole:
For Church Lady I guess once a liberal kills then everything is now equal on both sides, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the murder. She seems to think we should stop pointing out that when it comes to violence against fellow Americans, the right is far more prone to politically oriented murders than the left is.
I’d call her a dim bulb but that’s insulting to energy saving lighting.
Church Lady
@John Cole: John, you know that kool aid you used to drink? Honey, you’re still swilling it down. The only thing you did was change flavors.
I just wanted to give DougJ shit, since everytime there is some kind of multiple shooting, he wants to immediately pin the motive on someone’s “Conservatism”, not their just out and out insanity. Well, that is, unless the shooter is someone that just doesn’t fit his idea of what a Conservative is. Somehow neither the Little Rock shooter (black and muslim) nor the Ft. Hood shooter (muslim) merited one of Doug’s usual Holy Shit The Crazy Conservatives Are Going To Kill Us All (cuz their Conservative)! postings that he seems to be so fond of.
Unlike all of you, I don’t think all Conservatives are crazy, cruel, or complete assholes. Some are, but not all. Just like not all of you are assholes. Just some of you are.
gwangung
I claim that proudly.
We assholes have to stick together.
Hob
Oh shit, I’m pretty sure I’ve read this book before.
Church Lady
@gwangung: Plant that flag proudly. You’ve earned it. :)
JGabriel
Church Lady:
You say that like you think there’s some huge difference between a Conservative Christian murderer and a Conservative Muslim murderer. From our point of view, they’re both conservative fundamentalists, you know. There’s no real difference in the narrative.
.
scav
Somebody buy Church Lady a friend. Please.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@gwangung:
I sure as hell hope I’m one of those here that she considers an asshole. If not then I wonder if this will push me over the finish line:
@Church Lady: “Plant that flag proudly. You’ve earned it. :) “
How kind of you! Now bend over, we need a base for the flag.
Midnight Marauder
@Church Lady:
If by “give DougJ shit” you actually meant “attempt to promote a stunningly ignorant false dichotomy,” well then, you would be correct.
Really, you’re reaching like Stretch Armstrong on this one.
beergoggles
I just don’t understand why the rest of the country can’t start getting our textbooks from canada… or mexico.. not like we don’t already get our meds from there.
Liberty60
As if it needed to be pointed out again, people like Mr. Mcleroy are why the word Khmer Rouge is more applicable than “conservative”.
These people really are the spiritual heirs to the Trotskyites.
Svensker
@BB:
My God. That’s a horrible story.
Church Lady
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal): Ooooh, witty. Don’t worry, you were already on the list, no extra effort was required.
Svensker
@Church Lady:
Jeez, Church Lady. Bitter much?
Besides, don’t you know that elitist sockalist professor lesbo types don’t carry guns because they are dweebs? Only real ‘muricans pack heat.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@Church Lady:
Awww thankya little lady but I already guessed as much. Being considered an asshole by a complete fuckwit such as yourself is a true compliment. Being an asshole to fuckwits has been a life-long endeavor of mine so I am happy to know that some anonymous internet fuckwit thinks I am doing just great.
Comrade Kevin
Shorter Church Lady: “I know you are, but what am I?”
How very Paul L-like.
Viva BrisVegas
@Josh Huaco:
Whose only surviving daughter in 1651 married a certain John Cole.
Heretic genes will tell.
Jilli
The scary part of it is that this nonsensical rewriting of history doesn’t only impact Texas. Since TX is purchases such a large number of textbooks, these publications could end up in schools all over the country. So this clown isn’t just dumbing down/indoctrinating the students in TX, but possibly other states.
Texas also allows the teaching of Bible study in public schools.
As a resident of Houston, I wake up every morning and thank the stars that my husband and I chose not to have children.
burnspbesq
This crap will only stop when the UT admissions office starts rejecting blue-chip football recruits from in-state because they are incapable of staying academically eligible. At that point, it will stop right quick.
Church Lady
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal): It’s always heartwarming seeing someone enjoy their endeavors as much as you obviously do.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@Church Lady:
To be fair I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it without people like you so please, take a bow for yourself. What, this? It’s a flag pole. Go ahead, take a bow.
Delia
My problems with Church Lady’s original comment were that it was
a) aggressively OT
and
b) flamboyantly illogical.
Which means that while she’s certainly entitled to her own opinions, John is basically correct.
Nate Dawg
Ohhh look, honey, a troll!
Can we keep her? I promise I’ll feed her and clean up after her…she’s just so cute. Please please please!
Angry Space Cadet
I’m a bit late to this party, but the mention of China reminds me of a wonderful Bilmon post where he compared some ramblings by David Horowitz about combating liberalism on college campuses to maoist rhetoric circa the cultural revolution. He even photoshoped Horowitz into some hilarious chicom type posters. Too bad that site is not around anymore.
Josh Huaco
@Angry Space Cadet:
If Marx and Engels could make history fit the narrative, then the Texas BOE can too.
Sly
TPM pulled some clips from the live feed of the Board of Ed. meeting back in September. These are my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9vJ5XTFBFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWdql7LTW-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfdz7b8jNnc
I thank my sweet and fluffy Lord every day that I teach in NY because, even though we have our own share of big problems, the ideological interference isn’t nearly as bad as in other parts of the country. I think this is one of the side-benefits of turning our schools into assembly lines for college admissions (one of the few… most of them are horrible). Parents want their kids to have the best possible college application, and coming from a school district where social history is completely ignored is a big no-no.
And I personally can’t wait until e-readers become so cheap that school districts can start relying on them instead of wasting millions on the textbook publishers. I wouldn’t even use the $160 doorstop that passes for the standard American History textbook if it wasn’t required of me. I probably wouldn’t use any textbooks at all, just a collection of primary and secondary sources that are all widely available at little to no cost.
bcinaz
Texas? What…is that new word for Kremlin?
p.a.
What, you never heard of the ‘Commons Committee on Un-British activities’?