The Uneducation of Texas
This is frightening. Right-wing legislators in Texas are proposing changes to our history books and they might actually be successful. TPM : The conservative bloc on the Texas State Board of Education won a string of victories Friday, obtaining approval for an amendment requiring high school U.S. history students to know about Phyllis Schlafly and the Contract with America as well as inserting a clause that aims to justify McCarthyism. Outspoken conservative board member Don McLeroy, who reportedly spent over three hours personally proposing changes to the textbook standards, even wanted to cut "hip-hop" in favor of "country" in a section about the impact of cultural movements. That amendment failed. The board also voted to delay further debate on the nationally influential standards until March, with a final adoption vote now scheduled for May. Just to emphasize the severity of these proposals here is one that luckily was not adopted: McLeroy proposed a clause in t...