Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Texas Rewrites History

Would you like all the value of sending your kids to Sunday school, without having to pay any tuition? Then you may be interested in moving to Texas, the first state to consider making Christian values a priority in public schools.

The Texas Board of Education appointed six experts to review the state's social studies curriculum. My favorite is Reverend Peter Marshall, an evangelical minister who preaches that Watergate, the Vietnam War and Hurricane Katrina were God's judgments on the nation's sexual immorality. The other reviewers are not as exciting, only half of them identify as conservative. Their goals include a desire to "emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history." These 3 members say the new curriculum "should clearly present Christianity as an overall force for good -- and a key reason for American exceptionalism, the notion that the country stands above and apart."

Will these changes actually take place? Well, it's still early in the process. The above recommendations will go to Texas teachers who are meeting this summer to write new standards. They can accept, modify, or reject any suggestions from the expert panel. Whatever the teachers deem best will be sent to the Texas Board of Ed, the only group who can actually revise the standards. Bur for those of you unable to afford Catholic school, there's still hope. The 15-member Board of Ed is known as a conservative-dominated body.

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