GALVESTON COUNTY DAILY NEWS
Texas' Oldest Newspaper
http://galvestondailynews.com
Original article: http://www.galvnews.com/print.lasso?wcd=8816

Copyright © 2003 Galveston County Daily News

Groups clash over textbooks

By Alicia Gooden
The Daily News

Published March 23, 2003

Global warming, fossil fuels, acid rain and the history of slavery in the United States might sound like ordinary subjects for public school students, but when it comes to adopting textbooks in Texas, they are fighting words.

And if state Rep. Charlie Howard, a Sugar Land Republican, gets his way, the mostly Republican State Board of Education, rather than the Texas Education Agency, will decide how, and in some cases if, such topics are presented to public school students.

Howard's bill, H.B. 1447, would not only give state board members the power to decide which textbooks Texas' 1,043 school districts can adopt, but the authority to edit content. "They have the responsibility to adopt textbooks, so they should have the authority to edit the content," Howard said.

The proposed law has caused uproar among groups that fear it would allow cultural conservatives to manipulate education to fit their political ideologies and agendas and religious interpretations of history.

The state now has three guidelines for textbooks:

The Texas Education Code also says the books should promote citizenship, patriotism and free enterprise. Therein lies the debate.

Undoing History

In 1995, the Legislature stripped the 15-member state education board of its power to edit textbook content. The Texas Education Agency became the gatekeeper of curriculum standards and to some extent, the content of books.

That was a mistake, said Howard, whose bill would undo the 1995 law. "Who should have the authority to control content, an unelected bureaucracy or elected members of the State Board of Education?" he said. "This bill gives the authority, along with the responsibility, to the board of education, who can then tell publishers what they will accept or won't."

The Committee on Public Education debated the bill last week in Austin. Should the bill pass, opponents say, it would turn public schools into platforms for extreme conservative doctrine, turn 3 million students into captive audiences for that doctrine, and turn the textbook publishing industry on its head.

They Are Just Theories

Conservative groups already have had some success in getting publishers to edit information for reasons other than factual accuracy.

One target has been global warming, which the groups want presented as a speculative theory. Another is the phrase "fossil fuels," because to talk about fossil fuels is to talk about fossils, and to talk about fossils means to talk about the earth millions of years ago, which contradicts biblical timelines and supports biological evolution.

"They were theories being presented as fact," said Terri Leo, the newest conservative member of the state's education board.

Groups such as Citizens for a Sound Economy have objected to such things as positive references to Islam, mentions of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, too much emphasis on slavery, and passages that said acid rain produced in the United States caused environmental damage in Canada.

"As citizens, we found a number of factual errors and bias that was against democracy and free-market ideologies," said Peggy Venable, director of the group's Texas chapter.

That same conservative coalition last year got publishers to either delete or add to their proposed textbooks before they were adopted.

Publishers amended references to say that scientists only believe, rather than have evidence, that global warming explains changes in the earth's environment. They also added passages about Jesus' resurrection to advance the theory of creationism and balance evolution.

Liberal Bias

Conservatives say they are trying to correct decades of liberal bias in education and that the elected school board is the proper body to accomplish that end.

"Following 40 years of veering off to the left ditch, the pendulum has swung the other way," said David Bradley, who represents District 7, which includes Galveston County, on the state school board.

Bradley said he was elected to push a conservative agenda. "You elect people that hold your beliefs and values," he said. "We have a representative government."

Leo, who represents District 6, agreed. "I know the parents in my district and the teachers, and they want textbooks that are sound," Leo said.

Leo argued against including in one U.S. history book a section on the movement of kids divorcing their parents, children pledging allegiance to the earth rather than the United States and whether some parental rules were worth following.

"I don't need a book undermining authority as a parent," she said. "Our children are falling behind academically compared to students from other countries. Part of that is because we have bad textbooks."

Both Bradley and Leo criticized a book called Rainforest Algebra, saying the book was filled with pictures, recipes, women's suffrage, biology and mentions of the Vietnam War.

"There wasn't anything about math for the first 100 pages," Bradley said. Bradley also attacked a passage that said industries contribute to environmental damage.

"That's an opinion," he said. "When I think of the petrochemical industry, they are singly responsible for Pasadena, Deer Park, Texas City. They provide jobs and pay mortgages. The textbook portrayed this as a statement of fact."

Quality Of Eduction

On the other side are groups such as the Texas Freedom Network that say turning the editor's pen over to the board would further undermine the quality of education in the state.

"Giving this board the authority to edit content based on ideology rather than factual errors is detrimental to Texas textbooks and will damage the public education of children in Texas," said Ashley McIlvain, spokeswoman for the Texas Freedom Network.

Samantha Smoot, executive director of the Network, said the end result would be millions of students without thought-provoking texts or accurate knowledge of their country and the larger world.

"There will be a diluting of history, a narrowing of perspectives, and a removal of factual information if it doesn't fit with the personal, political and religious beliefs of the (board's) majority," she said in testimony last week before the Committee on Public Education.

Wave Of Change

Textbook publishers have already braced for a wave of change. While some said they disliked the politics of Texas' textbook adoption process, they said they would adjust to cash in on the country's wealthiest book market.

"Texas is the only state where the textbooks are fully funded," said Rene Le Bel, president of J.M. Le Bel Enterprises, a Dallas-based publisher of science books.

Two years ago, LeBel's environmental science book came under the scrutiny of conservative textbook reviewers. He compromised on phrasing of topics such as the effect tropical rain forests have on the earth's weather.

He also deleted a sentence about the effect global warming on the earth. "I hope the bill doesn't pass," said Le Bel. "With the SBOE editing, it is 100 percent political."

Biggest Buyer

Though he dislikes the process, Le Bel said he would continue to submit textbooks for adoption in Texas.

Behind California, Texas is the biggest buyer of textbooks in the country. The state allocates between $400 million and $600 million for its textbook purchases. Textbooks are bought in cycles, most are used for six years.

The state allocated $652 million for the next biennium to purchase books and supplemental material. That chunk of the pie is too much to pass up, said Le Bel. "Texas sets the tone for the rest of the country," he said.