cross-posted from Sum of Change
One of the treats of this year's Netroots Nation, was the timely panel about right-wing attacks to our education system.
More video highlights below the fold...
The ABCs of the Education Culture Wars
THU, 07/22/2010 - 4:30PM, Miranda 3-4
Activists and leaders on the right have spent the past three decades running “stealth” candidates and funding pressure groups in an effort to shape what American students learn in their public schools. Two of the fiercest state battlegrounds in the education culture wars have been Texas and Kansas, where social conservatives have, at various times, taken control of their respective State Boards of Education. The flash points in those battlegrounds have often been science and social studies, particularly instruction on evolution, the role of religion in the nation’s founding and efforts to promote conservative icons and ideology in textbooks and classrooms. Panelists will explore areas where the right has been most successful in its efforts to hijack education in service of a political agenda. They will also discuss resources available to progressive bloggers and activists who want to uncover, monitor and counter the right’s efforts at local, state and federal levels.
PANELISTS: Dan Quinn, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Michael Bérubé, Judy Jennings,Steven Newton
The panel included two candidates for the Texas state Board of Education who spoke, among other things, about their campaigns on the front lines of this fight:
Judy Jennings Speaks About Running for the Texas Board of Education
Rebecca Bell-Meterau Discusses Running for Texas Board of Education as a Democrat
Dan Quinn, Steve Newton, and Michael Berube On the Trend of Rejecting Expert Opinions:
Michael Berube on Fighting the Culture Wars for Over Two Decades
Steve Newton Discusses Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools