By Donna Garner
7.23.10
Randy Rives from Odessa, Texas, offered a bombshell of a Resolution on the floor of the Texas State Board of Education this morning. The Resolution is to be added as an agenda item in an upcoming meeting of the Board, possibly on September 22-24, 2010.
Rives’ concern is that the Social Studies TEKS (Texas’ standards) tell publishers what must be put in textbooks but does not mandate what is prohibited from being placed in them.
Rives presented definite examples from World History books used in Texas until 2003 that contained pro-Islam/anti-Christian statements.
Pat Hardy pointed out that the World History books adopted in 2003 and used presently were published by many of the same publishers. Therefore, the same type of pro-Islam/anti-Christian content may be in Texas students’ World History books today.
Because the Texas State Board of Education adopted brand new Social Studies TEKS in May 2010 and new textbooks will be forthcoming, Rives wants to make sure that publishers are prohibited from putting the same type of biased content into their books.
Terri Leo pointed out that in 1995 the SBOE lost its authority to determine what content may not be allowed in textbooks, but Cynthia Dunbar made it clear that the SBOE still has the authority to reject a textbook based on legitimate concerns.
Barbara Cargill voiced her appreciation for Rives’ Resolution.
Don McLeroy reminded the Board that when the World History books had been adopted in 2003, one particular textbook in the Table of Contents mentioned Islam 27 times. Christianity was mentioned once, and that was in the title of a document that said, “Russia Turns to Christianity.” Neither Judaism nor Christianity had a single textbook unit dedicated to them while the textbook contained a complete unit dedicated to Islam.
Rives emphasized that his resolution is particularly needed now because influential Middle Eastern investors are buying into the U. S. public school textbook market.
Randy Rives’ Resolution is entitled “Proposed Texas State Board of Education Resolution on Democratic Values in Social Studies Textbooks.”
…be it RESOLVED by the SBOE, that diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in Social Studies texts;
that Social Studies TEKS cannot provide relief, because they tell what a course should cover, not all it should avoid;
that under Texas Education Code §28.002(h)&(i), the SBOE must enforce "the basic democratic values of our state and national heritage;"
that chronic partiality to one of the world's great religions, and animus against another, flout democratic values and the letter and spirit of this rule;
that Texas Administrative Code §66.66(c)(4) provides, "Instructional materials may be rejected for content that clearly conflicts with the stated purpose of the Texas Education Code, §28.002(h);"
and that the SBOE will reject future prejudicial Social Studies submissions that so offend Texas law.
Please read the attachment to see the specific passages found in Texas’ World History books that support the necessity of this resolution. These examples include pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias; half-truths, selective disinformation, and false editorial stereotypes are listed.
anti-Christian, pro-Islam statements sBecause past World History books have had a definite bias toward Islam and a lack of favorable coverage and attention paid to Christianity and Judaism, ives
the following resolution to the Texas State Board of Education on July 23, 2010, during the public testimony time. The resolution is entitled “Proposed Texas State Board of Education Resolution on Democratic Values in Social Studies Textbooks.”
…be it RESOLVED by the SBOE, that diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in Social Studies texts;
that Social Studies TEKS cannot provide relief, because they tell what a course should cover, not all it should avoid;
that under Texas Education Code §28.002(h)&(i), the SBOE must enforce "the basic democratic values of our state and national heritage;"
that chronic partiality to one of the world's great religions, and animus against another, flout democratic values and the letter and spirit of this rule;
that Texas Administrative Code §66.66(c)(4) provides, "Instructional materials may be rejected for content that clearly conflicts with the stated purpose of the Texas Education Code, §28.002(h);"
and that the SBOE will reject future prejudicial Social Studies submissions that so offend Texas law.
Please read the attachment to see the specific passages found in Texas’ World History books that support the necessity of this resolution. These examples include pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias; half-truths, selective disinformation, and false editorial stereotypes are listed.