Don McElroy, who leads the board's powerful seven-member socialconservative bloc, explained that the measure is a way of "adding balance" in the classroom, since "academia is skewed too far to the left" (Yahoo! News).

A balance, Mr. McElroy? A balance is the reason for this? Yes let us rid of accuracy of what really happened, which is characterized as being "far to the left," in exchange for your conservative education agenda. Here are some of the proposed changes the Texas State Board of Education would like to make:

A greater emphasis on "the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s." This means not only increased favorable mentions of [Phyllis] Schlafly, the founder of the antifeminist Eagle Forum, but also more discussion of the Moral Majority, the Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association and Newt Gingrich's Contract With America.

- A reduced scope for Latino history and culture. A proposal to expand such material in recognition of Texas' rapidly growing Hispanic population was defeated in last week's meetings.

- Changes in specific terminology. Terms that the board's conservative majority felt were ideologically loaded are being retired. Hence, "imperialism" as a characterization of America's modern rise to world power is giving way to "expansionism," and "capitalism" is being dropped in economic material, in favor of the more positive expression "free market." (The new recommendations stress the need for favorable depictions of America's economic superiority across the board.)

- A more positive portrayal of Cold War anticommunism. Disgraced anticommunist crusader Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator censured by the Senate for his aggressive targeting of individual citizens and their civil liberties on the basis of their purported ties to the Communist Party, comes in for partial rehabilitation. The board recommends that textbooks refer to documents published since McCarthy's death and the fall of the Soviet bloc that appear to show expansive Soviet designs to undermine the U.S. government.

- Language that qualifies the legacy of 1960s liberalism. Great Society programs such as Title IX--which provides for equal gender access to educational resources--and affirmative action, intended to remedy historic workplace discrimination against African-Americans, are said to have created adverse "unintended consequences" in the curriculum's preferred language.

- Thomas Jefferson no longer included among writers influencing the nation's intellectual origins. Jefferson, a deist who helped pioneer the legal theory of the separation of church and state, is not a model founder in the board's judgment. Among the intellectual forerunners to be highlighted in Jefferson's place: medieval Catholic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, Puritan theologian John Calvin and conservative British law scholar William Blackstone. Heavy emphasis is also to be placed on the founding fathers having been guided by strict Christian beliefs.

- Excision of recent third-party presidential candidates Ralph Nader (from the left) and Ross Perot (from the centrist Reform Party). Meanwhile, the recommendations include an entry listing Confederate General Stonewall Jackson as a role model for effective leadership, and a statement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis accompanying a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

- A recommendation to include country and western music among the nation's important cultural movements. The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list (Yahoo! News).

Such potential changes caused a board member to walk out the meeting. Mary Helen Berlanga, stormed out in protest. She said, "They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don't exist," she said of her conservative colleagues on the board. "They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world" (Yahoo! News).

So U.S. History would drop a founding father, sanctify Joe McCarthy, build relics for Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, and almost name Newt Gingrich Prime Minister. This is what happens when people no longer care what transpires in education. This can happen when funds are cuts, and this is the only option for schools to buy books like these.

It must be stated that the proposed changes are not final and there is a chance they may not be approved, but then again that chance is about as likely as a snowball not melting in hell. If this kind of historical spin continues, anything is fair game. By anything, I mean a softer depiction of southern slavery, renaming the Civil War to "The War of Northern Aggression," giving a paragraph's worth of notification on the Holocaust, and perhaps giving an entire unit on the Confederated States of America.

There is, however, a third variable that often goes unnoticed. That piece is the teacher. A good teacher would look at such spin and be able to adjust the lessons. Perhaps the teacher would be able to compare and contrast these "new" books to older versions and could make lessons based on the two books. Take my high school biology teacher for example. After explaining evolution in great detail, he took a brief moment to say there are too many holes for him to buy into it. Bear in mind this was said to my class over ten years ago, so it is possible his opinion changed. Regardless, this example serves as how teachers are free thinkers and are not always taken into account when discussing school curricula. Then again if Governor Daniels' proposed education cuts are met, schools will not have the opportunity to hire and keep good teachers to deflect textbook spin and schools are left with the football coach teaching social studies and assigning chapter reviews. Good idea with those proposed cuts, Governor.

There is no question the education of future generations are at stake with such proposals from the Texas State Board of Education. I can only hope teachers of the social sciences stand up for accuracy and not spin. That historians will encourage schools to not allow this to happen, and that local politicians will speak out and take actions against these concepts and ideals.

Till Next Time...