An article on Texas textbooks may not appear to be of interest to our international community. However, the world movement toward secularism and one world government may have just met its match. The great state of Texas, in a bold move, is taking on the international anti-religion and anti-family movement.
Last Friday, the Texas State Board of Education adopted its new guidelines for social studies and history curriculum. Not only will 4.8 million Texas students be taught from these guidelines for the next 10 years, but the standards that emanate from Texas are also used by the major publishers in the development of their textbooks for the rest of the U.S. These Texas textbooks guidelines and standards have, for decades, had substantial influence over education not only in the U.S., but around the world.
The changes to the guidelines that are controversial may surprise you. They include the following:
Recognizing Religious History
The Texas Board voted to reject the change of the classification of historic periods to B.C.E. and C.E. from the traditional B.C. and A.D., thereby retaining the century old religious connotations of the historical classifications for time .
Teaching National Sovereignty
In a move that United Families International really cheers, the Board also approved a requirement for all students to evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations system to undermine national sovereignty . The Chairman of the Texas Board, Don McLeroy, stated that these global organizations, including the U.N., “threaten individual liberty and freedom.”
Clarifying the Issue of Church and State
Texas schoolchildren will also be required to learn that the words “separation of church and state” aren’t in the U.S. Constitution and they’ll be required to compare and contrast the judicial language with the First Amendment’s wording.
Clarifying the United States’ Form of Government & Monetary System
Students will be reminded that the U.S. government should be referred to as a “constitutional republic” rather than “democratic.” In an effort to help students understand economics and monetary systems, they will be required to study the decline in the U.S. dollar’s value, including the abandonment of the gold standard . References to “American exceptionalism” and free enterprise are featured in the new guidelines as well as the suggestion that free enterprise functions best in the absence of government intervention.
Perhaps your first thought is: “You mean those things aren’t in the textbooks right now? Suffice it to say that the history that you learned while in school may be significantly different than what your children and grandchildren are currently being taught.
We also want to mention that efforts by some members of the Texas State Board of Education to diminish textbook references to Christmas, Independence Day, and religious heritage were defeated . In a move that must surely outrage the secularists of society, there is a strengthened requirement for teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers. Not everyone is as pleased with the new requirements and guidelines for textbooks as we may be.
Some educators have criticized the proposed curriculum as “politicizing education.” The more liberal members of the Texas Board lament the fact that they no longer have the majority so as to control the requirements. In California a state legislator is working to block the Texas standards from influencing textbooks in his state. We are confident, however, that the vast majority of parents will be pleased with the changes to the guidelines and we thank those in Texas who had the courage and conviction to return lost information and standards to the country’s textbooks.
Call to Action
An interesting exercise would be to get hold of your student’s current social studies and history book. Read and study them over the summer. Do some comparing to what you were taught while in school . Please add this proposal to last week’s suggestion of taking the time to evaluate your student’s sex education program over the summer. Get copies of textbooks and curriculum from social studies and history as well. This should make for some wonderful around-the-dinner-table teaching moments this summer.
Conclusion
In a world where children are being used as pawns in the chase for a god-less society, parents must be informed and aware of the contents of their child’s school curriculum. This ever increasing movement away from family empowerment can only be stifled and eventually turned around by vigilant parents and strong family public policy. Thanks to the Texas Board of Education for paving the way!
Support UFI!
Stand up for the family, and traditional values by supporting UFI! Click here to support UFI by credit card
Click here to support UFI using PayPal
Click here to support UFI by check