Texas school curriculum proposal

Pinball1970

Pinball1970

Valued Senior Member
You guys aware of this?

www.texastribune.org

Texas’ Christian-influenced curriculum spurs worries about bullying, church-state separation

Some secular groups and members of other faiths say the curriculum could give schools too much control over how children are taught religion.
www.texastribune.org www.texastribune.org

Aron Ra, an excellent science communicator posted on his site.


When you have Christians and pastors who strongly object to an education policy regarding religion, in Texas, that has to be a big problem.
 
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They worry the increased emphasis on Christianity could lead non-Christian students to face bullying and isolation, undermine church-state separation and grant the state too much control over how children are taught about religion.

[...] “What I hear a lot in Texas is parental rights — that we have the right to be able to make decisions about our children's education,” said Nabila Mansoor, a Muslim who is the executive director of Rise AAPI, which primarily serves Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. “And yet, this particular faith tradition is being superimposed on children who come from many different faith backgrounds and whose parents would find it very offensive.”
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Christianity was an accomplice of Western imperialism during the colonial era, so decolonization policies to multiculturalize the standards of knowledge and education should roll back this type of incursion (and dominance) by the old hegemony, in the future. If current secular efforts fail to contain it.
_
 
gmilam said:
As a resident of Texas, I can confirm that the struggle is real.
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Any ideas on the outcome? The video is a bunch of testimonials, I watched the opening and caught both sides but as yet I cannot find any sort of decision.
 
foghorn said:
It looks like the decision will be in November.

"The board will approve the final curriculum for elementary school students in November"
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/09/10/texas-board-of-education-hear-from-public-on-instructional-material
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Having heard the testimony of some of the Jewish representatives and Christian pastors, parents and teachers they could have legal grounds maybe?
Violation of the establishment clause?

I would have to read the claimed distortions of the cited scripture, Esther was mentioned. Deliberately putting the Jews in a bad light? That would be a lot more tricky as there ARE some very violent verses involving Moses, Joshua etc.
"Tropes" were mentioned, anti semitism.

Would a board be eager to get into this type of legal wrangle again?
Dover was 20 years ago now so costs would be in the millions.

"Richard Katskee, assistant legal director for Americans United, said of the trial's cost, "Any board thinking of trying to do what the Dover board did is going to have to look for a bill in excess of $2 million," and "I think $2 million is a lot to explain to taxpayers for a lawsuit that should never be fought."
 
foghorn said:
It looks like the decision will be in November.

"The board will approve the final curriculum for elementary school students in November"
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/09/10/texas-board-of-education-hear-from-public-on-instructional-material
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Just to add, all the curriculum PDFs are on line. I will print a few off next week.

K–5 English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) Materials and Reports | State Board of Education

sboe.texas.gov sboe.texas.gov
 
I haven't been following the details on this one, but it's par for the course here. I am sure it will be shot down in the courts. But the three stooges we have in the top offices of the state will eek all the publicity they can from it to fire up their base.
 
gmilam said:
I haven't been following the details on this one, but it's par for the course here. I am sure it will be shot down in the courts. But the three stooges we have in the top offices of the state will eek all the publicity they can from it to fire up their base.
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You notice that the pro curriculum side are not that well informed?

Claiming the Bible and characters are "historical?" Including Moses!?
Claiming American society has declined since the Bible was removed from school in1962? Big claim since rather a lot has happened in the intervening 62 years!? The Beatles hit America in 62/63 perhaps it was their fault?
The foundation of the nation was based on Christian Judeo values/ the Bible.
"In god we trust" on US money was somehow part of the founding fathers inspiration? Even one of the chair people had to correct her. Was she clueless regarding the founding fathers? The fact they wanted the Bible and religion separate? Or that slogan was added in the 1950s?
That would be like saying Einstein was inspired by the JWST or the Whigs were inspired by Brexit. Unbelievable.
 
My suspicion is that when this fails Gregg Abbot will use that to try and push his school voucher plan. Which is basically a scheme to divert public tax dollars to private religious schools.
 
gmilam said:
My suspicion is that when this fails Gregg Abbot will use that to try and push his school voucher plan. Which is basically a scheme to divert public tax dollars to private religious schools.
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History tells us that these idiots do not care about children or education, they just want to keep it going by getting them young.

ncse.ngo

Ten Major Court Cases about Evolution and Creationism | National Center for Science Education

1. In 1968, in Epperson v. Arkansas, the United States Supreme Court invalidated an Arkansas statute that prohibited the teaching of evolution. The Court held the statute unconstitutional on the grounds that the First Amendment to the U.S.
ncse.ngo ncse.ngo
 
Pinball1970 said:
You notice that the pro curriculum side are not that well informed?

Claiming the Bible and characters are "historical?" Including Moses!?
Claiming American society has declined since the Bible was removed from school in1962? Big claim since rather a lot has happened in the intervening 62 years!? The Beatles hit America in 62/63 perhaps it was their fault?
The foundation of the nation was based on Christian Judeo values/ the Bible.
"In god we trust" on US money was somehow part of the founding fathers inspiration? Even one of the chair people had to correct her. Was she clueless regarding the founding fathers? The fact they wanted the Bible and religion separate? Or that slogan was added in the 1950s?
That would be like saying Einstein was inspired by the JWST or the Whigs were inspired by Brexit. Unbelievable.
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I used to think that it was just the little pocket of ignorance we lived in. (In the 1970s my high school biology teacher was instructed by the school board to omit the chapters covering evolution.) But it seems to have gained a national audience in the intervening decades. Maybe I'm just more aware of it now.
 
gmilam said:
I used to think that it was just the little pocket of ignorance we lived in. (In the 1970s my high school biology teacher was instructed by the school board to omit the chapters covering evolution.) But it seems to have gained a national audience in the intervening decades. Maybe I'm just more aware of it now.
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I was in the thick of it without knowing it, catholic education BUT taught Evolution.
Edwards v. Aguillard was 1987 so that came one year after "The Blind Watchmaker. Dawkins mentioned this assault on science by creationists in a couple of his books.
I was finishing my studies during this time and "Watch maker" was recommended reading material.
However it was years later with Dover in 2005 when I realised the situation was serious with money behind it. There was a documentary on it on UK TV near to the events.

They just keep going, religion= money, power and votes.
 
If I understand correctly, this situation is more about inflicting the Bible into every subject. Apparently there is some sort of funding incentive tied to "choosing" the recommended curriculum.

I really should pay more attention to local politics. But Texas has been a political insane asylum for quite a few years now.
 
Pinball1970 said:
When you have Christians and pastors who strongly object to an education policy regarding religion, in Texas, that has to be a big problem.
Click to expand...
On your video clip post #1, timemark: 29:27.
There’s a member of the Texas State Board Of Education (SBOE), Tony Maynard.
This character’s honesty may be questionable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A person that was challenging for his (Tony Maynard's) position on the board is a Dr Mary Bone.
Tony Maynard must have kept his seat because he is in your video of meeting 10th sept 2024.
In the past, Mary Bone has shown two cases (videos) of where Mr Maynard has been dishonest.
Having said that, Mary is anti-woke herself.



The story behind these videos can be found here:
texasscorecard.com

State Board of Education Incumbent Tom Maynard Rewrites History - Texas Scorecard

His primary challenger Mary Bone called his version of events into question.
texasscorecard.com texasscorecard.com
 
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foghorn said:
On your video clip post #1, timemark: 29:27.
There’s a member of the Texas State Board Of Education (SBOE), Tony Maynard.
This character’s honesty may be questionable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A person that was challenging for his (Tony Maynard's) position on the board is a Dr Mary Bone.
Tony Maynard must have kept his seat because he is in your video of meeting 10th sept 2024.
In the past, Mary Bone has shown two cases (videos) of where Mr Maynard has been dishonest.
Having said that, Mary is anti-woke herself.



The story behind these videos can be found here:
texasscorecard.com

State Board of Education Incumbent Tom Maynard Rewrites History - Texas Scorecard

His primary challenger Mary Bone called his version of events into question.
texasscorecard.com texasscorecard.com
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I'm a Brit but I will check the whole video out.
 
foghorn said:
Just to correct an error in my post #15. His name is Tom Maynard and not Tony.
Silly me.
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A quick up date, as this popped up in my alerts.

It's quite short 36 minutes but I will time stamp it.

A group who are getting involved in legislation at the local and state level. Pushing back on these sorts of bills, having a voice and also how people can get involved.

The Secular Advocacy Team. Formed by the American Atheists.


Intro 0-6.30

6.30 AronRa State board of Education -Bible taught as history.

8.40 How to get involved.

9.15 How these secular groups are reforming after COVID.

10.00 Religious groups agenda in schools, air brushing American History. "Shiny parts only."

13.43 Text books in Texas will be used in "many" other states.

14.40 Christian Nationalism on the rise.

16.06 Attempts to put 10 commandments in schools, America over the last 100 years, what has improved. What do MAGA want to go back to.

18.30 14th and 19th amendments repealed by MAGA?

27.00 What can you do to get involved?
 
Pinball1970 said:
A quick up date, as this popped up in my alerts.
Click to expand...

I watched the video and hope some kind of larger movement takes off.
Btw, I’m also a Brit.
It’s sort of depressing to see these Texas state board of education members having these positions concerning a child’s education.

One board member, Julie Pickren, in your video post # 1, was kicked off another school board for being at the Washington Jan 6th 2020 event, and now she holds a seat on the Texas board until 2027.

Talking of hanging the ‘The Ten Commandments’ in the classroom...
You have seen Charlton Heston’s film ‘The Ten commandments’. Do you recall how the creeping dark mist spread along the alleyways to find and kill the ‘first born’? Well, that’s what these board members remind me of, a dark creeping mist after the minds of the innocence.
 
There's a date for the deciding meeting...
November 19-22th.
The SBOE will vote on Bluebonnet Learning and other products submitted as part of the IMRA process at the Board’s next general meeting November 19-22.
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TEA used these comments and feedback to further refine, edit and ready the product for final submission as part of the SBOE’s Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process - ensuring the materials are aligned with state standards and values.
Click to expand...
SBOE = Texas State Board Of Education.
TEA= Texas Education Agency
https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/new...d-bluebonnet-learning-instructional-materials
*******************************

"Who Wrote Texas’s Million Dollar, Bible-Infused Curriculum? The State Won’t Say"
www.the74million.org

Who Wrote Texas’s Million Dollar, Bible-Infused Curriculum? The State Won’t Say

‘Someone knows this information,’ said a GOP member of the state board of education, citing a lack of transparency about the $84 million overhaul.
www.the74million.org www.the74million.org
 
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