

Texas, where science and history have become ideological battlegrounds - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/01/texas-where-science-and-history-have-become-ideological-battlegrounds/

======
droithomme
When this story first came out last year claiming that Thomas Jefferson was
removed from the curriculum because he was an atheist (which he was not), I
went and looked at the actual differences made to the state standards so I
could have a laugh. As it turns out the claims in the story were false. This
latest version at least gets right that he is not on the list of influential
Enlightenment era authors. That's true. Not pointed out though is that he is
more covered throughout the rest of the curriculum than just about any other
figure. Also relevant and not mentioned in these articles is the simple fact
that Jefferson's two books were both private projects which he didn't publish
or intend to, his Jefferson Bible edit and the Farm Book detailing daily
goings on at his farm. As these were not published in his era they are
certainly not major Enlightenment era works. His biggest writing contribution
is in the large number of personal letters he wrote to friends and colleagues,
which were not published as a collection during his lifetime. That these
establish him as a major enlightenment era writer is not something beyond
doubt. We can reasonably include the Declaration of Independence as a product
of Enlightenment thinking, and Jefferson was the author of this work which
summarized the thoughts of himself and others who met at the time. But we must
remember it is a single brief work and it is comprehensively covered in the
curriculum, just not under the brief list of suggested Enlightenment authors.

As far as the claim that listing the middle names of Presidents is teaching
children a false history, it is an absurd claim provided the middle names are
accurate.

Regarding the discussion about creationism, creationism is not mentioned or
included anywhere in the Texas curriculum standards.

A few years ago the media jumped on Kansas curriculum standards, and yet here
we are and Kansas continues to do quite well compared to other states on
things such as SAT and ACT scores, which unlike state achievement tests are
comparable between states because the same test is given in all states.
Because of this embarrassing fact that Kansas schools do quite well in
impartial evaluations by respected outside parties, this genre of article has
given up with the Kansas argument and moved on to Texas.

I recommend that anyone interested in whether the claims in the article are
true download the Texas curriculum standards for themselves and check, in
addition to refreshing their knowledge of history.

edit: It's always amusing when one posts facts that are so uncomfortable to
propagandists and the uneducated that they not only downvote that post, but
they go back and systematically downvote everything one has posted in the last
week. Such actions show the failure of the propagandist to be able to form a
coherent response in the face of reality.

~~~
unimpressive
<http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148>

I'll just leave this here without comment.

~~~
youngerdryas
Did you find something?

(7) Science concepts. The student knows evolutionary theory is a scientific
explanation for the unity and diversity of life. The student is expected to:

(A) analyze and evaluate how evidence of common ancestry among groups is
provided by the fossil record, biogeography, and homologies, including
anatomical, molecular, and developmental;

(B) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning any data of sudden
appearance, stasis, and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record;

(C) analyze and evaluate how natural selection produces change in populations,
not individuals;

(D) analyze and evaluate how the elements of natural selection, including
inherited variation, the potential of a population to produce more offspring
than can survive, and a finite supply of environmental resources, result in
differential reproductive success;

(E) analyze and evaluate the relationship of natural selection to adaptation
and to the development of diversity in and among species;

(F) analyze and evaluate the effects of other evolutionary mechanisms,
including genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, and recombination; and

(G) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning the complexity of
the cell.

Hardly damning stuff.

~~~
unimpressive
No. I figured I'd make it easier for interested parties to evaluate the
standards by linking them.

Without comment.

------
efnx
Can someone explain to me how young earth creationists can even exist at high
levels in our government? It just seems so embarrassing. I feel like I'm
taking crazy pills here.

~~~
MrRage
Speaking as someone who grew up in Texas in conservative evangelical family,
there are plenty of churches that are politically active (not all but there
are a lot). So you basically have a voting block that takes marching orders
from their spiritual leaders.

I attended such a church until my early 20's (I'm 32 now) and around elections
there were many sermon reminders that they needed to go vote for people
aligned with their conservative values. At my former church they wouldn't
explicitly endorse candidates, but it was understood you voted Republican. If
the Republican at least appeared to be an evangelical Christian, you would get
more support. (I remember George W. Bush being called a "man of God" by
several people.)

Moreover, if you had an inclination to, say, vote Democrat, then you better be
quite about it. People would just about question how "true" of a Christian you
were if you did that.

Disclaimer: I know that not every church in states like Texas are like this. I
know because I went to less political churches too. (I don't go to church
anymore for what it's worth.)

~~~
kodablah
I too grew up [and reside in] Texas. I grew up in rural Texas and live in a
large city now. I don't believe the religious zealotry is near as prevalent in
the public (even the voting public) as it is in the representatives. I know
stories like this don't make it seem so, but I find that many Texans vote
based on fiscal policy instead of social policy. The unfortunate consequence
is the politicians tend to be both fiscally and socially conservative putting
voters in a quandary to prioritize if they don't side with all values.

Couple that with post-election apathy towards what's going on in Austin, and
you get crackpots. Not saying that some people don't specifically vote for
creationists, but my limited experience tells me most do not.

~~~
MrRage
I certainly agree with what you're saying. There is a difference between
fiscal and social conservatives, and the fiscal camp is larger. The religious
right by themselves are not as powerful as some on the left make them out to
be. But I still think the evangelicals have a certain power, because the
fiscal camp needs them to vote. So the fiscal camp whips up concerns about the
social issue du jour to get them to the polls.

------
fnordfnordfnord
Texas Republicans are an embarrassment. Consider this excerpt published in
their 2012 Party Platform. I know it's old news for some, but still worth
remembering.

"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking
Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar
programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE)
(mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose
of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental
authority."

------
shirederby
The Independent Lens blog mentions some (IMO) key points that are left out of
the Ars piece:

1\. "In 2011, the Texas Legislature shifted authority to order textbooks from
the state to individual school districts with Senate Bill 6. The law deprived
the board of its final say-so."

2\. "Now, [textbook publishers] only have to meet 50 percent of the
standards…Textbook publishers have a little more wiggle room."

Those details seem quite important for giving context to the TEA members'
attempted or realized changes to the curriculum in terms of what actually
threatens education _vs._ what ultimately comes down to grandstanding.

[http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/revising-the-
revisio...](http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/revising-the-
revisionaries-the-texas-board-of-ed-loses-its-power-over-textbooks)

------
Alex3917
"And they are seriously ideological. McLeroy is quoted as saying, 'education
is too important to not be politicized'.'

So Ars supports abolishing the public school system? Let me know how that
works out.

