Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - The Civil Rights Act wasn't all that great. The TX School Board has voted

Idyllic · 03-16-2010, 11:54 AM

For every left there is a right, for every yen a yang, it’s all in the blub you wish to seek, read and believe.

[Texas Social Studies Curriculum Vote Brings Out Worst in AP Bias, Labeling, By Tom Blumer, Sat, 03/13/2010 - 00:16 ET

April Castro and the headline writers at the supposedly "objective" Associated Press are obviously not pleased with changes the Texas State Board of Education made to the Lone Star State's social studies curriculum.

Castro's report (HT to an NB e-mailer) makes almost no attempt to hide her clear disdain. She includes references to a "far-right faction" (a "faction" that happened to constitute a two-thirds majority!) and "ultraconservatives," while uniformly describing leftists as mere Democrats, and generally comes across as a sore loser in solidarity with the poor, outvoted libs.

You'll also see in the excerpt that follows that the story's headline is disgracefully over the top:

Texas ed board vote reflects far-right influences
AUSTIN, 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.
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. 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.
"We have been about conservatism versus liberalism," said Democrat Mavis Knight of Dallas, explaining her vote against the standards. "We have manipulated strands to insert what we want it to be in the document, regardless as to whether or not it's appropriate."

.... Ultraconservatives wielded their power over hundreds of subjects this week, introducing and rejecting amendments on everything from the civil rights movement to global politics. Hostilities flared and prompted a walkout Thursday by one of the board's most prominent Democrats, Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi, who accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" curriculum standards.

By late Thursday night, three other Democrats seemed to sense their futility and left, leaving Republicans to easily push through amendments heralding "American exceptionalism" and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention.

Castro should have been asking why the items described in the excerpt, plus the following cited by the AP writer in unexcerpted paragraphs, haven't been in the social studies curriculum all along:

"... the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on global politics."
former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
"a reference to the Second Amendment right to bear arms in a section about citizenship in a U.S. government class."

Apparently the ultimate insult occurred when "Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement."
Oh the humanity.

—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters]

There are just as many reports that applaud the work of the Texas Educational System as there are those that attempt to defame it. It just seems to me that the truth is boring and doesn’t grab the liberals for their all consuming “Call to Arms” so they piecemeal extreme negativity together and sell it as the golden standard, what a way to run a country, sound like fear mongering to me.

How on earth did it mean so much to the liberals that they just walked out? I would never do that on my kids watch, if it was that big, why did the libs just walk out, oh, that’s right, so they could get to news cameras first.

03-16-2010, 11:54 AM	#45 (permalink)
Idyllic Psycho Location: My House	For every left there is a right, for every yen a yang, it’s all in the blub you wish to seek, read and believe. [Texas Social Studies Curriculum Vote Brings Out Worst in AP Bias, Labeling, By Tom Blumer, Sat, 03/13/2010 - 00:16 ET April Castro and the headline writers at the supposedly "objective" Associated Press are obviously not pleased with changes the Texas State Board of Education made to the Lone Star State's social studies curriculum. Castro's report (HT to an NB e-mailer) makes almost no attempt to hide her clear disdain. She includes references to a "far-right faction" (a "faction" that happened to constitute a two-thirds majority!) and "ultraconservatives," while uniformly describing leftists as mere Democrats, and generally comes across as a sore loser in solidarity with the poor, outvoted libs. You'll also see in the excerpt that follows that the story's headline is disgracefully over the top: Texas ed board vote reflects far-right influences AUSTIN, 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. 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. 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. "We have been about conservatism versus liberalism," said Democrat Mavis Knight of Dallas, explaining her vote against the standards. "We have manipulated strands to insert what we want it to be in the document, regardless as to whether or not it's appropriate." .... Ultraconservatives wielded their power over hundreds of subjects this week, introducing and rejecting amendments on everything from the civil rights movement to global politics. Hostilities flared and prompted a walkout Thursday by one of the board's most prominent Democrats, Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi, who accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" curriculum standards. By late Thursday night, three other Democrats seemed to sense their futility and left, leaving Republicans to easily push through amendments heralding "American exceptionalism" and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention. Castro should have been asking why the items described in the excerpt, plus the following cited by the AP writer in unexcerpted paragraphs, haven't been in the social studies curriculum all along: "... the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on global politics." former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. "a reference to the Second Amendment right to bear arms in a section about citizenship in a U.S. government class." Apparently the ultimate insult occurred when "Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement." Oh the humanity. —Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters] There are just as many reports that applaud the work of the Texas Educational System as there are those that attempt to defame it. It just seems to me that the truth is boring and doesn’t grab the liberals for their all consuming “Call to Arms” so they piecemeal extreme negativity together and sell it as the golden standard, what a way to run a country, sound like fear mongering to me. How on earth did it mean so much to the liberals that they just walked out? I would never do that on my kids watch, if it was that big, why did the libs just walk out, oh, that’s right, so they could get to news cameras first. __________________ you can tell them all you want but it won't matter until they think it does p.s. I contradict my contradictions, with or without intention, sometimes.