La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for April 01, 2010

Good question. Who *is* Phyllis Schlafly?

If kids don’t know who she was, perhaps there’s hope yet.

What’s going on in Texas? From the NY Times (posted March 12, 2010)

”Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change”

” After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.”

“…Since January, Republicans on the board have passed more than 100 amendments to the 120-page curriculum standards affecting history, sociology and economics courses from elementary to high school. The standards were proposed by a panel of teachers.

“We are adding balance,” said Dr. Don McLeroy, the leader of the conservative faction on the board, after the vote. “History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left.”

Battles over what to put in science and history books have taken place for years in the 20 states where state boards must adopt textbooks, most notably in California and Texas. But rarely in recent history has a group of conservative board members left such a mark on a social studies curriculum.

Efforts by Hispanic board members to include more Latino figures as role models for the state’s large Hispanic population were consistently defeated, prompting one member, Mary Helen Berlanga, to storm out of a meeting late Thursday night, saying, “They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don’t exist.”

“They are going overboard, they are not experts, they are not historians,” she said. “They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world.”

The curriculum standards will now be published in a state register, opening them up for 30 days of public comment. A final vote will be taken in May, but given the Republican dominance of the board, it is unlikely that many changes will be made.

NY Times

It’s not too late to let your voices be heard!

Keep ‘em igorant! (Misspell intentional). us redneck frum th’Ozarks will rule the world someday. cuz al th’others be to igorant to do it rite.

Footnote to the above. I teach Adult Education and Family Literacy.

I think this is the time for other states to stand up and say, “We’re not going to buy the books used in Texas!” Because Texas is such a big market, they have generally influenced the text books in other states (publishers don’t want to make lots of different versions of the books, so they generally only offer what the biggest markets want). But now is the time to say that these loonies shall no longer ruin education for the rest of us.

And if you have ever read James Loewen’s “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, you’ll know that the slant of history books has always been more conservative and, frankly, dishonest.

The time has come for parents to pay attention to what their children are learning in school and to supplement what has been marginalized, be it white, black, Hispanic, conservative, or liberal. Unfortunately, history is too broad to cover, and something will always be left out.

Aha ha ha! This is hilarious!

The Texas Board of Education obviously knows how to bear false witness. They seem quite confident that no one who disagrees with them is their neighbor.

@tpenna

You mean hilarious as in all those old Jim Crow Laws?

They left out Betsy Ross and Dolly Madison?

In Texas they removed any mention of the U.S. Japanese-Americans internment camps in WWII, no mention of the “Trail of Tears”, no mention of the Hoover Camps before the great depression, but had a two page explaination of the “Marilyn Monroe phenomenon”. The Texas Board of Education is nothing but a bunch of bible thumping right wing crazies and that just how most Texans want it.

Badto

Oh, Imaginary Cosmic Daddy (LORD) , I hope not!

Maybe a lot of them just don’t know what’s happening. It is sad commentary regardless.

How can we be so critical of the state that gave such two “great” presidents in the last twenty-two years? If one only had Texas text books, no one would know the answer to the above question.

No, Alex Williamson. I mean it was hilarious inasmuch as the pacing, setup, and punchline were delivered in such a way that the strip caused me to blurt out laughing.

I mean, having to use a magnifying glass to find info about women’s contributions to society only to turn up the ridiculous theocrat, Phyllis Schlafly? Come on! That’s just funny!

Sorry tpenna. Thanks for the correction.

I am sometimes susceptible to misunderstanding short and sweet!

I guess I would not have opened my misguided mouth if you had added something like “That Magnifying Glass!”

Then again, that’s My “Bad.”

No prob, Alex. I don’t often comment on La Cucaracha, so without knowing my liberal background, my first comment could easily be misunderstood.