United Families International recently sent out an alert discussing the revisions to the of the State of Texas curriculum for history and social studies. We wanted to pass on some new information; particularly for our readers who are residents of Texas. Please write and express your support for the new revisions. Here’s the text of the appeal:
“If You Really Care About Our Texas School Children…”
by Donna Garner
5.27.10
I am making a personal appeal to every Texas parent who has children in the public schools and to everyone who cares about the future of our state and nation. If you have not gotten involved before to try to protect our children, then here is your chance.
“The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” “This year’s students will become tomorrow’s voters and leaders.”
A huge battle unfolded as the elected Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) members went through the 1 ½ year process of adopting brand new Social Studies standards (TEKS) for K-12.
These new standards were passed last Friday, 5.21.10; but the liberal news media (including the Dallas Morning News, the Austin American-Statesman, the San Antonio Express-News, etc.) working together with leftists such as Texas Freedom Network, Mexican American Legislative Caucus, ACLU, MEChA, NAACP, TSTA, NEA, PFLAG, Equality Texas, AFT, LULAC, and the Democrat Texas Legislators are still trying to keep the firestorm brewing.
These liberals want the SBOE to rewrite the newly passed Social Studies standards next January when new left-leaning Board members take their seats.
(To read the Dallas Morning News’ nefarious plan, please go to: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-sboe_0527edi.State.Edition1.6e8fa12.html )
I think most parents and people in the public will agree with me that the new Social Studies TEKS are exactly what they want our Texas children to learn and that the lengthy process to adopt these standards was fair and transparent, involving more than 42,000 e-mails and countless hours of public hearings.
Before this firestorm is allowed to gain speed, Texas parents and the public must write to their Texas legislators and put a stop to this nefarious plan right now.
ACTION: Please tell your legislators that you want the new Social Studies TEKS to stand as adopted; you support the authority of the elected SBOE; you appreciate the thoroughness of the adoption process; and you want our state’s children to have new Social Studies textbooks based upon the Social Studies standards that were adopted on 5.21.10.
EXAMPLES FROM NEW SOCIAL STUDIES TEKS
Here are some of the Social Studies standards that our Texas children will study. The final version adopted on 5.21.10 will be posted on the Texas Education Agency website in a few weeks:
Analyze Abraham Lincoln’s ideas about liberty, equality, union and government (Gettysburg Address) and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address (8th grade U. S. History).
Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed free exercise by saying that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Compare and contrast this concept to the phrase “separation of church and state. “(U. S. Government)
Explain instances of institutional racism in American society (Sociology).
Discuss the solvency of long-term entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare (U. S. History since 1877).
Participate in Celebrate Freedom Week annually with an emphasis on Thomas Jefferson’s part in writing The Declaration of Independence.
Study such people as Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr, Sonia Sotomayor, Barack H. Obama, Sandra Day O’Connor, Wallace Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony, Lorenzo de Zavala, Booker T. Washington, Henry B. Gonzalez, Hector P. Garcia, Raul A. Gonzalez, Jr., Jose Antonio Navarro, Hillary Clinton, Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan, W.E. B. Dubois, Irma Rangel, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Ochoa, Harriet Tubman, Roy Benavides, John”Danny” Olivas, Carmen Loma Garza, Vernon J. Baker, George Washington Carver, William Wilberforce, many others.
Learn about Tejano leaders: Juan N. Seguin, Lorenzo de Zavala, and Jose Antonio Navarro including the significant contributions of Tejanos such as Juan N. Seguín, Plácido Benavides, and Jose Francisco Ruiz during the time period of the Texas Revolution, The Republic of Texas, and the annexation of Texas to the United States; Tejanos who died at the Alamo, Juan Antonio Badillo and Carlos Espalier.
Study holidays such as Veterans’ Day, July the 4th, Christmas, and Rosh Hashanah.
Describe the causes, key organizations, and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980’s and 1990’s, including the Moral Majority, the National Rifle Association, and the Contract with America.
Study Enlightenment philosophers such as Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Rousseau, and other political thinkers.
Learn about Thomas Jefferson as a Founding Father, patriot hero, political philosopher, significant figure in American Revolution, and author of Declaration of Independence.
Study slavery by explaining the reasons for the development of the plantation system, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and the spread of slavery.
Learn about the benefits of the free enterprise system (Grades 2 – 12) and understand that this system may also be referred to by the term “capitalism.”
Study the establishment of our Constitutional Republic.
To read more, go to Rampart 360 – 5.27.10 — “Coverage of the Texas State Board of Education Battle” — http://ramparts360.com/uncategorized/heather-sboe/
Donna Garner
wgarner1@hot.rr.com