This weekend at Netroots Nation 2010, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with two Democrats running for the Texas State School Board - Judy Jennings and Rebecca Bell Metereau. Both are extremely well qualified, smart and passionate about saving public education in Texas. And that last part is not hyperbole as you will see.
Background - For about the last 15 years, right-wing Texans have been trying to systematically change the curriculum in public schools. These changes especially in textbooks have been drastic and represent the philosophical madness of the right Wing and the assault on public education. For example in 1995, a lady pictured carrying a briefcase was removed and replaced with a ladying carying a cake because it was deemed to be a "more appropriate" depiction of a role model.
Here's a great video about what has been going in Texas
The Texas School Board positions are unpaid so that is another reason that what they are doing is admirable.
We are at a crossroads in this country in how we choose to handle these right wing unilateral attacks on our values. We can sit back and watch as our education system changes and teaching of critical thinking skills are diminished. Or we can work to make sure that we have the right folks in place to deal with these situations. Do we let educational professionals handle these issues and trust their judgment or do we allow the right wing to place folks such as Ken Mercer, a software engineer, in these positions of trust?
Jennings says in her campaign literature that
"The board largely has become a national embarrassment that serves to promote stereotypes of Texas as a backwards state."
I would go a step further and say that this an international embarrassment for our entire nation. The entire public education system is under attack. As Judy and Rebecca discussed with me yesterday, the new methods being taught are stifling all creativity in the classroom. An article in Newsweek earlier this month talks about this as a national phenomenon
Creativity has always been prized in American society, but it’s never really been understood. While our creativity scores decline unchecked, the current national strategy for creativity consists of little more than praying for a Greek muse to drop by our houses. The problems we face now, and in the future, simply demand that we do more than just hope for inspiration to strike.
So why should the Texas School Board and their curriculum decisions matter to us in Alabama, Montana, Illinois, Georgia, California or New York?
A number of reasons. Texas supplies 1/10th of the Textbooks in the Country. Texas and California are the biggest purchasers of textbooks in the Country. What is adopted in Texas is ultimately what other states will get. So if Texas textbooks take out references to Thomas Jefferson and the Age of Enlightenment or substitute Democracy with Constitutional Republic that's what is going to be the trend. Furthermore, California with their budget crisis has cut textbook funding. So what you will see is no balance in the textbooks to choose from for the rest of the country.
It's clear that the right wingers have their own misguided agenda. They want to use textbooks to influence their values and ideals. Politicians not educators are trying to re-write history and science. They want to put Sean Hannity and James Dobson in the forefront of what is being taught to our children. That alone should scare us all. Enough is enough.
Texas School Board districts are the size of roughly two Congressional Districts. The candidates have a lot of ground to cover over the next 100 days. They also need our help. Please make a $5, $10 or $50 donation to Rebecca and Judy so that we can stand up against the right wing extremists everywhere. You can post this diary or other info about this race on your facebook page. Use the hashtag #savehistory and tweet about this issue and the election.
Rebecca Bell Metereau and Judy Jennings are brave enough to run in such a tough political climate. They knew that what they were doing was important
for the Texas Education system, but they also realize the effect that leaving the board in the hands of the extremists could have on the entire nation.
Let me say they were also troopers at Netroots Nation this weekend. I saw them truly enjoying themselves at panels, keynotes and social events. A lot of candidates just show up wanting to know what you can do for them. I hope we have more candidates that take these cues when they come looking for our support. We also need to support candidates that support us and genuinely are interested in what we are doing to help them.