admiralsnackbar
04-16-2010, 11:30 AM
For those so inclined, here's the letter from Texas Freedom Network with instructions for your political advocacy. FYI, this is a non-partisan organization.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Make Your Voice Heard: Comment on the Social Studies Standards Today
The process of revising social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools is moving into a critical stage. The revised curriculum standards -- which include amendments adopted at the March meeting -- are now available online and open for public comment. This is one of the final opportunities for you to speak out against the far right’s efforts to corrupt standards for history, government and other social studies classes.
Over just a few days in January and March, the state board shredded nearly a year’s worth of detailed work by teachers, scholars and other curriculum writers. In vote after vote, board members made numerous intolerant and ignorant changes based on little more than their own (limited) knowledge and personal beliefs. The revision has been so badly botched, the only responsible action is to delay the scheduled final vote on new standards in May and allow real experts and teachers the opportunity to review the altered document. However, in the event that the far-right faction is able to force a final vote on the standards in May, it is important for you to make specific comments about errors and inaccuracies in the revised document. (Click here for some background information on the problems with the social studies revision (http://www.tfn.org/site/R?i=N8K55CQbbB7OPxFdIX43rA..)).
Take Action
Click here (http://www.tfn.org/site/R?i=vvy-YpNgtbZ52G7qsF3qiw..) to review current social studies standards (scroll down to the very bottom of the TEA website to find the proposed revisions to social studies), and send your comments to: [email protected]. Here are some points to keep in mind as you review the standards and prepare your comments:
General points:
Because the State Board of Education made so many changes to the proposed standards without seeking advice from academic experts or even classroom teachers at the January and March meetings, the board should delay final approval for the social studies standards. It is critical that teachers and academic experts in the social sciences review the revised standards to determine whether they are based on sound scholarship and are appropriate for social studies classrooms.
Board members should stop playing politics with the standards and listen to classroom teachers and scholars. Texas students deserve an education based on facts and sound scholarship, not the personal opinions of board members who are not experts in history or the social sciences. The board is undermining the ability of Texas students to get a sound education that is free from political agendas and that truly prepares them to succeed in college, in their future careers and as citizens.
Some specific changes the board should make to the standards:
World history students should learn about the influence of Enlightenment ideas and thinkers, including Thomas Jefferson, on political revolutions from the 1750s to the present. The board should reverse its vote in March to remove Jefferson and references to the Enlightenment from a world history standard on political revolutions since the 1700s.
The board should reverse its vote against a proposed high school government course standard requiring that students understand how the Founders protected religious freedom by barring government from promoting or disfavoring one religion over all others.
The board should stop trying to politicize and stigmatize the accomplishments of the women’s and civil rights movements by requiring students to learn about supposed negative consequences of those struggles for equal rights in America. Such a requirement is based on personal political opinions, not scholarship.
But even if all these changes are made, scholars and classroom teachers should still review the revised standards and recommend any needed changes before the board takes a final vote on adoption.
__________________________________________________ _
Save the date for our rally in Austin on May 19 at the William B. Travis Building.
The State Board of Education is scheduled to hear public testimony about the standards that day. Join hundreds of other concerned Texans at an outdoor rally calling on the state board to stop politicizing our kids' classrooms.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Make Your Voice Heard: Comment on the Social Studies Standards Today
The process of revising social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools is moving into a critical stage. The revised curriculum standards -- which include amendments adopted at the March meeting -- are now available online and open for public comment. This is one of the final opportunities for you to speak out against the far right’s efforts to corrupt standards for history, government and other social studies classes.
Over just a few days in January and March, the state board shredded nearly a year’s worth of detailed work by teachers, scholars and other curriculum writers. In vote after vote, board members made numerous intolerant and ignorant changes based on little more than their own (limited) knowledge and personal beliefs. The revision has been so badly botched, the only responsible action is to delay the scheduled final vote on new standards in May and allow real experts and teachers the opportunity to review the altered document. However, in the event that the far-right faction is able to force a final vote on the standards in May, it is important for you to make specific comments about errors and inaccuracies in the revised document. (Click here for some background information on the problems with the social studies revision (http://www.tfn.org/site/R?i=N8K55CQbbB7OPxFdIX43rA..)).
Take Action
Click here (http://www.tfn.org/site/R?i=vvy-YpNgtbZ52G7qsF3qiw..) to review current social studies standards (scroll down to the very bottom of the TEA website to find the proposed revisions to social studies), and send your comments to: [email protected]. Here are some points to keep in mind as you review the standards and prepare your comments:
General points:
Because the State Board of Education made so many changes to the proposed standards without seeking advice from academic experts or even classroom teachers at the January and March meetings, the board should delay final approval for the social studies standards. It is critical that teachers and academic experts in the social sciences review the revised standards to determine whether they are based on sound scholarship and are appropriate for social studies classrooms.
Board members should stop playing politics with the standards and listen to classroom teachers and scholars. Texas students deserve an education based on facts and sound scholarship, not the personal opinions of board members who are not experts in history or the social sciences. The board is undermining the ability of Texas students to get a sound education that is free from political agendas and that truly prepares them to succeed in college, in their future careers and as citizens.
Some specific changes the board should make to the standards:
World history students should learn about the influence of Enlightenment ideas and thinkers, including Thomas Jefferson, on political revolutions from the 1750s to the present. The board should reverse its vote in March to remove Jefferson and references to the Enlightenment from a world history standard on political revolutions since the 1700s.
The board should reverse its vote against a proposed high school government course standard requiring that students understand how the Founders protected religious freedom by barring government from promoting or disfavoring one religion over all others.
The board should stop trying to politicize and stigmatize the accomplishments of the women’s and civil rights movements by requiring students to learn about supposed negative consequences of those struggles for equal rights in America. Such a requirement is based on personal political opinions, not scholarship.
But even if all these changes are made, scholars and classroom teachers should still review the revised standards and recommend any needed changes before the board takes a final vote on adoption.
__________________________________________________ _
Save the date for our rally in Austin on May 19 at the William B. Travis Building.
The State Board of Education is scheduled to hear public testimony about the standards that day. Join hundreds of other concerned Texans at an outdoor rally calling on the state board to stop politicizing our kids' classrooms.