In the great state of Texas, a far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade.
This will definitely not be the last we hear about this, as there are some very, very controversial changes including the removal of Thomas Jefferson and not including hip-hop as relevant, cultural movement. The big question will be can the State Legislature override the School Board on these radical changes.
Here is the list of the most controversial changes that the State Board of Education will be implementing in the coming months.
SOURCE: HuffingtonPost
Removal Of Thomas Jefferson
The Board removed Thomas Jefferson from the Texas curriculum’s world history standards on Enlightenment thinking, “replacing him with religious right icon John Calvin. The board’s far-right faction has spent months now proclaiming the importance of emphasizing America’s exceptionalism in social studies classrooms. But today they voted to remove one of the greatest of America’s Founders, Thomas Jefferson, from a standard about the influence of great political philosophers on political revolutions from 1750 to today.
[pagebreak]
No Seperation Of Church And State
‘Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state.’ “I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”
[pagebreak]
U.S. Is Not Democratic
Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a ‘constitutional republic,’ rather than ‘democratic,’ and students will be required to study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.
[pagebreak]
Hip-Hop Is Not Culturally Significant
Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement.
[pagebreak]
All Religions Equal Under Constitution?
The Board refused to require that “students learn that the Constitution prevents the U.S. government from promoting one religion over all others.”
[pagebreak]
Preserving McCarthy’s Legacy
‘Other changes seem aimed at tamping down criticism of the right. Conservatives passed one amendment, for instance, requiring that the history of McCarthyism include ‘how the later release of the Venona papers conf
