Conservative Textbook Curriculum Passes Final Vote In Texas

suraj.sun sends in a followup to a story we've been following about the Texas Board of Education's efforts to put a more political spin on some of their state's textbooks. From the Dallas Morning News: "In a landmark move that will shape the future education of millions of Texas schoolchildren, the State Board of Education on Friday approved new curriculum standards for US history and other social studies courses that reflect a more conservative tone than in the past. Split along party lines, the board delivered a pair of 9-5 votes to adopt the new standards, which will dictate what is taught in all Texas schools and provide the basis for future textbooks and student achievement tests over the next decade. Texas standards often wind up being taught in other states because national publishers typically tailor their materials to Texas, one of the biggest textbook purchasers in the country. Approval came after the GOP-dominated board approved a new curriculum standard that would encourage high school students to question the legal doctrine of church-state separation — a sore point for social conservative groups who disagree with court decisions that have affirmed the doctrine, including the ban on school-sponsored prayer."

Comments

Re:Time to stop relying on Texas...

[spun]

No, it doesn't go both ways, unless perhaps you have evidence of an entire fucking state adopting a liberal slanted curriculum such as you describe? Thought not, that shit only happens in your fantasies. There is no parity. It is not 'tit for tat.' You can't excuse your side's behavior by drawing false parallels to the other side.

Re:Care to support your assertion with facts?

[clarkkent09]

Well the US is obviously more innovative than Europe by any measure (take computer technology, biotechonlogy, medicine, count Nobel prizes in any technical field). As to why, my intuitive feeling (no I don't have hard data) is that there is more incentive to innovate in a system where the material rewards are greater and you don't have to pay 60% of your income to the government as you do in many European countries. Also, the higher education system in the US is much better mostly because the top universities are private and subject to market competition while in many European countries higher education is fully government controlled (Germany for example, which I think is why it has gone down so dramatically in physics and other fields). On the other hand, the US system is worse at the lower end, and better at the high end, but it is the high end where innovation comes from. Just my opinion but I am looking forward to hearing any alternative theories why the US has had a huge lead in science and technological innovation over Europe since the war even though Europe as a whole has a larger population and a great tradition in science.