Limiting References to Islam in Texas Schoolbooks

[Kodiak]

Texas ed board adopts resolution limiting Islam

By APRIL CASTRO – 25 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas State Board of Education adopted a resolution Friday that seeks to curtail references to Islam in Texas textbooks, as social conservative board members warned of what they describe as a creeping Middle Eastern influence in the nation's publishing industry.
The board approved the one-page nonbinding resolution, which urges textbook publishers to limit what they print about Islam in world history books, by a 7-5 vote.
Critics say it's another example of the ideological board trying to politicize public education in the Lone Star State. Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom, questioned why the resolution came at a time when "anti-Muslim rhetoric in this country has reached fever pitch."
"It's hard not to conclude that the misleading claims in this resolution are either based on ignorance of what's in the textbooks or, on the other hand, are an example of fear-mongering and playing politics," Miller said.
Future boards that will choose the state's next generation of social studies texts will not be bound by the resolution.
"This is an expression of the board's opinion, so it does not have an affect on any particular textbook," said David Anderson, the general counsel for the Texas Education Agency, when asked by a board member what legal weight the resolution would carry.
"So this is a cosmetic exercise?" asked board member Mavis Knight, a Democrat from Dallas.
The resolution cites world history books no longer used in Texas schools that it says devoted more lines of text to Islamic beliefs and practices than Christian ones. Chairwoman Gail Lowe said the resolution cites old books because board rules prohibit them from discussing current books more than 90 days after their adoption.
"I believe that it's happening in the current (social studies books) even though we can't cover that in the resolution," said board member Terri Leo, a Republican from Spring. The resolution sends a "clear message to publishers that it should not happen in the future."
The resolution also claims "more such discriminatory treatment of religion may occur as Middle Easterners buy into the U.S. public school textbook oligopoly, as they are doing now."
Two Republicans broke from their party to vote with the Democrats. Two Democrats — Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi and Rene Nunez of El Paso — were absent for the vote. The initial vote on the resolution was 7-6, but the board later reconsidered the measure. The second vote was 7-5 after a Democratic board member left the meeting.
The measure was suggested to the board this summer by Odessa businessman Randy Rives, who lost his Republican primary bid for a seat on the panel earlier this year. Members of a social conservative bloc of the board then asked Lowe to put the resolution on this week's agenda.
During public testimony, which included comments from activists as well as a handful of parents, Jonathan Saenz, a lobbyist for the conservative Liberty Institute, argued that the board was "doing the right thing ... to prevent any type of religious discrimination or treat any religion in a way that's incomplete."
Several times during the testimony, Lowe intervened, attempting to calm flaring tempers.
"The Board's mission, and Texas' future, is ill-served when the board chooses to use its limited meeting time to discuss and vote on discriminatory and politically motivated measures, such as this proposed resolution," said Frank Knaack, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
The resolution concludes by warning publishers the "State Board of Education will look to reject future prejudicial social studies submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and by demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others."
Social conservatives control the 15-member board for now, although the landscape is set to change after one member of the bloc lost his primary election bid and another chose not to seek re-election. The board in recent years has become a battleground for social conservatives and liberal watchdogs, each accusing the other of imposing ideological agendas into what about 4.8 million public school students learn in Texas classrooms.

It's about time. I for one am looking forward to math textbooks that embrace numbers that are more in line with our European Heritage and get rid of that Arab/Middle-Eastern influence.

Yes that was sarcasm. If you missed the sarcasm, chill-out and relax.

[Srelex]

Didn't they already turn their textbooks into White Christian Conservative manuals? Wouldn't just digging out textbooks from 1850 save them the trouble?

[Anguirus]

That article sadly fails to capture the madness. Here is a transcript of the meeting that resulted in this resolution:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase ... %3A1083602

[Tanasinn]

The really frustrating part about defending egalitarian ideals against thinly-disguised attempts at total Christian hegemony is that the people whose rights and place in history are being defended are, ideologically, just as poisonous.

[Phantasee]

At the rate they are changing their textbooks, they must have the newest books in the whole country.

[Liberty]

As someone currently working on a PhD in history, this scares the fuck out of me. History isn't something that should be messed with in this way! In many countries, history is used merely to bolster nationalism, and in these cases actual professional historians are completely suppressed and even persecuted if they publish something against the official narrative. In America, it's supposed to be different. Freedom and all that, right?

[Molyneux]

If I hadn't already seen this elsewhere, I would have been astonished that this was not an Onion article. There really are bottomless depths to hypocrisy, aren't there?

[That NOS Guy]

As someone currently working on a PhD in history, this scares the fuck out of me. History isn't something that should be messed with in this way! In many countries, history is used merely to bolster nationalism, and in these cases actual professional historians are completely suppressed and even persecuted if they publish something against the official narrative. In America, it's supposed to be different. Freedom and all that, right?

The reason I'm not pursuing a masters in the field is precisely this, it looks as if no matter what we know we're going to get shafted anyway. I fear it's a battle we simply can't win.

[Liberty]

As someone currently working on a PhD in history, this scares the fuck out of me. History isn't something that should be messed with in this way! In many countries, history is used merely to bolster nationalism, and in these cases actual professional historians are completely suppressed and even persecuted if they publish something against the official narrative. In America, it's supposed to be different. Freedom and all that, right?

The reason I'm not pursuing a masters in the field is precisely this, it looks as if no matter what we know we're going to get shafted anyway. I fear it's a battle we simply can't win.

But we can't just give up; that's handing them victory!

[That NOS Guy]

But we can't just give up; that's handing them victory!

Your attitude towards the matter is laudable, but there's only so much that can be done. I know this is all insanity, you know it's all insanity, but what does a large bloc of voters think besides "it's only a theory!" or "the Civil War was about State's Rights!" We never set about trying to give them victory, but as long as democratically elected schoolboards and groups seeking to infiltrate them exist, it's an uphill climb for the educated among us.

There's a lot more of them then there is of us, and they have deeper pockets. I fear all opposition is for naught as those of us who go into teaching are going to be constrained by insane agendas despite their knowing better. Excuse this remorseless cynicism, but it is difficult to keep up morale when the same issues keep presenting themselves repeatedly without satisfaction. It feels like the very best that the historical community ever gets is a draw from these nutbars, and that gets tiring after awhile.

[Lagmonster]

Because apparently the Texas BoE can't sense the irony of promoting one religion while denouncing another, they've decided to vote to limit textbooks which mention any Christian historical atrocities and/or downplay Muslim ones.

Link Here

From the article:

AUSTIN — Publishers were put on notice on Friday when a divided State Board of Education vowed to reject textbooks with a pro-Islamic and anti-Christian slant, sending a message that critics say promotes fear and prejudice.

The resolution, approved by a 7-6 vote, says that multiple world history textbooks are tainted with views that demonize Christianity and favor Islam.

Which, if you get into it, apparently includes mentioning things Christians did bad, such as the Crusades or Inquisition.

"This resolution just seems senseless," said board member Rick Agosto, of San Antonio. "It makes this board look like we're cuckoo, which we are."

Just to demonstrate that there is a selection of sane minds to balance out the bigots and fearmongers. Of course, they are shouted down when people want to re-write history, which is the danger.

The resolution specifically criticizes three high school history textbooks that are no longer approved for use in Texas classrooms. It said the books, published in 1999, devoted many more lines to Islam than Christianity, and it criticized other texts for including "sanitized definitions of 'jihad' " and "patterns of pejoratives towards Christians."

Isn't that a hoot? "Devotes more lines to Islam than Christianity". If that doesn't sound paranoid and petty, I don't know what would.

[Marcus Aurelius]

There is already a thread about this in N&P.

[Lagmonster]

Merged my late mention with the already-existing thread I hadn't noticed.

[Dave]

But we can't just give up; that's handing them victory!

Your attitude towards the matter is laudable, but there's only so much that can be done. I know this is all insanity, you know it's all insanity, but what does a large bloc of voters think besides "it's only a theory!" or "the Civil War was about State's Rights!" We never set about trying to give them victory, but as long as democratically elected schoolboards and groups seeking to infiltrate them exist, it's an uphill climb for the educated among us.

Call me a naive college student who is not going into education, but I would say that uphill climbs are not insurmountable, just harder. Are you proposing surrendering to ignorance only because countering ignorance can be difficult?

[Aaron]

Call me a naive college student who is not going into education, but I would say that uphill climbs are not insurmountable, just harder. Are you proposing surrendering to ignorance only because countering ignorance can be difficult?

Tell you what, lets see if you feel the same way in ten years. In that period I have seen the US slide continually to the right, yeah there have been steps the other way (individual states legalizing gay marriage) but now things are to the point where conspiracy theories and outright denial of science are common place., along with legalized torture and now possibly assassination of American citizens.

If you've got the energy, go nuts. I don't anymore and I'm not even a Yank.

[Stravo]

You could, as I tend to want to, isolate this shit and say "It's just Texas being Texas and they can continue their slide into idiocy. The future will catch up to them hard." but then you find out a fact that since Texas is so large and thus buys so many books for its school system its text book guidelines impact the national level since publishers aren't inclined to make books geared towards different school systems they aim for the lowest common denominator - meaning Texas decisions effect us all. We are literally being dragged backwards with the rest of these morons. And they say democracy giving everyone a voice is a good thing...right?

[Serafina]

You could, as I tend to want to, isolate this shit and say "It's just Texas being Texas and they can continue their slide into idiocy. The future will catch up to them hard." but then you find out a fact that since Texas is so large and thus buys so many books for its school system its text book guidelines impact the national level since publishers aren't inclined to make books geared towards different school systems they aim for the lowest common denominator - meaning Texas decisions effect us all. We are literally being dragged backwards with the rest of these morons. And they say democracy giving everyone a voice is a good thing...right?

Why is that, anyway?
Seriously - they can't make different books for different states?
Unless i am completely mistaken, you have different textbooks for every german state, or at least about half a dozen different textbook that schools in Germany can choose from. A friend of mine who went to another school (in the same state) had a completely different textbook despite being in the same year and at the same type of school. My relatives in other states used different textbooks, too. So why can't you just make a different "textbook" for the state of Texas and a proper one for the rest of the USA, if a smaller country like Germany can do it?

[General Zod]

You could, as I tend to want to, isolate this shit and say "It's just Texas being Texas and they can continue their slide into idiocy. The future will catch up to them hard." but then you find out a fact that since Texas is so large and thus buys so many books for its school system its text book guidelines impact the national level since publishers aren't inclined to make books geared towards different school systems they aim for the lowest common denominator - meaning Texas decisions effect us all. We are literally being dragged backwards with the rest of these morons. And they say democracy giving everyone a voice is a good thing...right?

Why is that, anyway?
Seriously - they can't make different books for different states?
Unless i am completely mistaken, you have different textbooks for every german state, or at least about half a dozen different textbook that schools in Germany can choose from. A friend of mine who went to another school (in the same state) had a completely different textbook despite being in the same year and at the same type of school. My relatives in other states used different textbooks, too. So why can't you just make a different "textbook" for the state of Texas and a proper one for the rest of the USA, if a smaller country like Germany can do it?

Making different books for different states seems to defeat the purpose of a standardized education.

[Formless]

Why is that, anyway?
Seriously - they can't make different books for different states?
Unless i am completely mistaken, you have different textbooks for every german state, or at least about half a dozen different textbook that schools in Germany can choose from. A friend of mine who went to another school (in the same state) had a completely different textbook despite being in the same year and at the same type of school. My relatives in other states used different textbooks, too. So why can't you just make a different "textbook" for the state of Texas and a proper one for the rest of the USA, if a smaller country like Germany can do it?

IIRC, all the state education systems buy textbooks from essentially the same few publishers. The publishers would rather just print one textbook and sell that to every customer, and since Texas is one of their biggest customers...

Yay for market forces.

[Serafina]

Making different books for different states seems to defeat the purpose of a standardized education.

But we don't HAVE a standardized education. At least not like that - while the degrees are the same all over Germany, education is strictly a matter of the states. Yes, i think that that's stupid - i just wanted to point out that it's clearly possible to print different textbooks.

IIRC, all the state education systems buy textbooks from essentially the same few publishers. The publishers would rather just print one textbook and sell that to every customer, and since Texas is one of their biggest customers...

That's what i wanted to point out - if they do that, they are just damn stupid. And it probably means that there is no real competition - if books were bought for quality, someone would start buying actual textbooks instead of such crappy propaganda.

So - why do the other states not care about the quality of their textbooks?

[Phantasee]

Because it costs a lot more? Stretched education budgets mean you want your books published cheaper, and the easiest way to do that is to get the same textbooks as the most populous states instead of forcing your own standard on the publisher. And guaranteed the publisher is going to raise the price per book a lot higher if they have to basically rewrite the thing and put out a smaller print run.

[Serafina]

Because it costs a lot more? Stretched education budgets mean you want your books published cheaper, and the easiest way to do that is to get the same textbooks as the most populous states instead of forcing your own standard on the publisher. And guaranteed the publisher is going to raise the price per book a lot higher if they have to basically rewrite the thing and put out a smaller print run.

I don't think that makes that much sense. If Texas is that big of a market, it should not really increase production costs by that much if you print an extra book for them - you are still talking about millions of books, after all.

[Formless]

That's what i wanted to point out - if they do that, they are just damn stupid. And it probably means that there is no real competition - if books were bought for quality, someone would start buying actual textbooks instead of such crappy propaganda.

Damn profitable, you mean. The publishers make money hand over fist on textbooks. They really can dictate their price to the market, and there isn't a thing the school departments can do about it except suck it in and buy limited order custom books at even larger cost. Since they generally don't want to do that, they work with what they can get.

[Bakustra]

Because it costs a lot more? Stretched education budgets mean you want your books published cheaper, and the easiest way to do that is to get the same textbooks as the most populous states instead of forcing your own standard on the publisher. And guaranteed the publisher is going to raise the price per book a lot higher if they have to basically rewrite the thing and put out a smaller print run.

It's actually a little bit simpler: publishers simply don't bother with making textbooks that conform to any standards other than California's or Texas'. Those are the two most populous states, so apart from small-run textbooks (like state-level civics books), they can be assured of a market. What districts want never really comes into it, apart from if they live in the two states above. The publishers simply don't sell any other textbooks.

Some states do commission textbooks (the wonderful Lies My Teacher Told Me relates a personal story of the author's about when he participated in one), but as you noted, that can get expensive and is far more effort than simply buying the Texas-standard ones. It's a shame, really, because situations like this can essentially take the prejudices of a handful of officials in an office most of their constituents don't even know is elected, and then project them upon an entire nation, distorting education the whole way through.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Education industries (textbooks, lesson plans, supplies, etc) are market driven. They need to appeal to the biggest markets, which are the largest education states; Texas, California, and New York.

For this reason, if textbook makers can appeal to those three states and get a big market share, they don't NEED to worry about Rhode Island or Wyoming's education standards, because those states can buy only a fraction of what they could sell in Dallas or LA alone. Because of this limiting of information, other states will adopt standards similar to the big three so that they can get the most 'bang for their buck' and get a textbook designed for the curriculum they adopt.

Basically, it goes like this:

1. Large state designs curriculum.
2. Publisher makes book to meet that large state's curriculum.
3. Large state buys book.
4. Small state has to buy same book.
5. Book doesn't meet small state's curriculum.
6. Small state changes curriculum.
7. Book now works for both curriculums.