No one wrote it. No one read it. It just flew into the textbook and wrote itself.
This is such a shameless distortion of history that it made it to the front page of the Houston Chronicle on Thursday. And it took a 15 year old student and his mother to notice and raise hell about it.
It took a Pearland mother and her 15-year-old son to notice that a world geography textbook used in many Houston-area school systems described slaves as "workers," providing an interpretation of history that many consider grossly misleading.
Now many are wondering how the slip-up, which caused a national outcry and brought an apology from publishing giant McGraw Hill Education, made it through Texas' vetting process and into hundreds of classrooms statewide.
Those of us who live in Texas and follow education are not in the least bit surprised that this travesty is published. The State Board of Education is comprised of a number right wing religious
conservatives who would like to replace science books with the
bible. And to make matters worse, when elected Governor in 2014, Greg Abbott immediately named a
home schooler to lead the Board.
When it comes to education, Texas is the state that keeps on giving — and not in a good way.
In 2010, there was tumult over proposed changes to social studies standards by religious conservatives on the State Board of Education, including one that referred to the United States’s slave trade as the “Atlantic triangular trade.” In 2014, the board majority approved new social studies textbooks, some of which were criticized as being inaccurate and biased. And now, Gov. Greg Abbott, has sparked controversy — even among fellow Republicans — with his appointment of a new chair of the Texas Board of Education, which is charged with setting policy and standards for the state’s public schools.
Abbott tapped Donna Bahorich, a Republican from Houston who has been on the board for two years and who home-schooled her three sons before sending them to private schools. They never went to Texas public school.
Between the
cuts to education budgets and published voodoo knowledge it is no wonder that Texas public schools rank among the
bottom of the pile of U.S. public schools.
Now that everyone knows a historical fact has been replaced with blatant bias in a state approved text book, those in charge are waffling and white washing.
We didn't see it! Among all of those who were invited to review the textbook, not a one noticed it. Well, how did it get there and how come all parties involved missed it?
Public education activists said the flap exposes dangerous flaws in how the state approves textbooks, a system that relies heavily on recommendations from panels of individuals who sometimes lack academic credentials and have limited time to comb through thousand-page books. They say the process is also rife with opportunities for politicians to use the power of appointments to essentially rewrite history.
A caption about slaves in a geography textbook distributed to 400 school districts in Texas will be corrected, the publisher says. Publisher to replace textbooks referring to slaves as 'workers'
State board officials agree the system is imperfect, but they say the textbook in question had been reviewed by dozens of academics, teachers and others who also missed the misleading caption. It also was online for the public to view before it was approved. They chalked up the incident up to an unfortunate mistake and stress that no system can catch everything.
Stuff happens, I guess. I'd like to know the names of those so-called academics and where they earned their degrees. Better yet, I'd like to know
who is paying their salaries.
"Is it a perfect process? I would say that's not even possible," said Donna Bahorich, chairwoman of the State Board of Education, who along with other board members approved the world geography textbook in November. "Would we end up with a perfect book? That's not possible either. But hopefully we're going to get it right most of the time."
Getting it right most of the time doesn't cut it. Knowledge is knowledge. Moses is not a founding father. Evolution happened. Slaves were not "workers." Whoever inserted that fabrication into the text is not suited for a career in education.
I fondly remember a time in which Texas could proudly boast about its public schools.
I guess my now adult kid was lucky. He attended Houston's public K-12 schools. The elementary, middle and high schools ranked from very good to excellent. My son had wonderful teachers all of whom were easily accessible to parents. His middle school science, math and social studies teachers were probably among the best in the district.
My son and many of his high school peers were admitted into excellent colleges and universities. Their high school counselors posted students' names and the colleges they were about to attend on a wall in their offices. The counselors were proud of their students.
During this time parents bought in to the schools and the classrooms. PTO meetings and shared decision making committees (comprised of administrators, teachers, parents) were hubs of energy and positive action. I looked forward to these meetings b/c all were committed to getting the best education we could for all of our children. I can't tell you how many friends I made when so many of us joined forces to support our schools and its teachers.
I hope the same is happening today, for the sake of this state. I applaud activist parents and grandparents today who will buck the state's education ideologues. Give 'em the hell they deserve. Don't back down for a second.
Ann Richards was Governor when my son entered kindergarten in 1991. The schools remained strong when G.W. Bush served as Governor. To their credit, Barbara and Laura Bush were strong supporters of education.
But things started going down hill when Rick Perry stuck around for far too long. For fourteen long and dark years he could and did appoint partisan hacks, ideologues and cronies to lead every possible agency and to lead every public board. It didn't take long for Texas schools to take a dive downward.
Don't expect Greg Abbott to act any differently. He appointed a homeschooler whose children later attended private schools. Greg Abbott is a typical GOP Governor. A Stepford wife of ALEC.
The State Board of Education's lame excuses remind me of the piggy banks that go missing in some of the state's agencies. They disappear but no one takes them. Cronyism and pay to play politics are pervasive.
Until there is a shake up and far more scrutiny is placed on the State Board of Education Texas kids will continue to read more distorted misrepresentations of history and science than most of their peers in the U.S.
There are times in which I feel as if middle schoolers are running the state.
But that would be an insult to middle schoolers.
Update: Below are links to other similar stories about errors in Texas textbooks.
McGraw Hill lists Afro-American slaves as immigrants.
Why the hell did it take a random viral video to fix this mistake on slavery?
Another textbook from publisher McGraw Hill lists Afro American slaves as immigrants.
