Op-Ed: Keep Educators In Charge of Education

by Sarah Loyd
Austin Citysphere Managing Editor 

This week in Austin, the State Board of Education is hearing public testimony as they prepare to vote on a set of proposed changes to curriculum standards that will affect classrooms in the Lone Star State for the next decade. Unfortunately, just six of the 15 members of the State Board of Education have actually served as educators in public schools, and the Board is playing politics with the future of public education in Texas.

Some of the decisions that are being made are pushing an obvious right-wing agenda, going so far as to strike the word "democratic" from a description of the government structure of the United States. Instead, the phrase "constitutional republic" has been inserted. Has the partisan nonsense gone so far that the word "democratic" has become a dirty word?

Other changes that would be laughable if they weren't so outrageous include refusing to require that students learn about the prohibition in the U.S. Constitution that prevents the government from promoting one religion over another (a part of the First Amendment), and striking Thomas Jefferson from a section of the curriculum on Enlightenment thinkers, replacing him instead with religious leaders like John Calvin and St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas Jefferson, of course, was a Founding Father, but also the coiner of the phrase "separation of church and state."

The Texas Freedom Network Education Fund released the results of a poll (PDF) today that reveals 68 percent of likely Texas voters believe that such separation of church and state is a key principle of the Constitution. Additionally, 72 percent of Texas voters agree that Texas teachers and academic scholars should be writing public school curriculum standards, while just 19 percent believe that responsibility should belong to elected members of the State Board of Education.

The Republican members of the Board outnumber the Democratic members 10-5, and maintain that they're simply trying to steer the curriculum away from a perceived liberal bias among teachers who proposed the curriculum to begin with.

However, I believe that the men and women who have been charged with the education of the students in Texas public schools probably have a pretty good grasp on what should go into the curriculum that they teach.  I don't understand why the conservative members of the SBOE don't trust licensed educators to do their jobs, instead inserting their political opinions into textbooks that will alter the way children are taught in Texas, and likely many other states, for the next ten years.

While I self-identify as a Christian and have no problem bringing religion into my own home and my life, I do have a problem when a handful of people, particularly people who have no experience in public school classrooms, insist on interjecting their beliefs into a secular institution.

The Board will vote on the proposed curriculum changes Friday, and will undoubtedly serve as a decade-long reminder to me - and hopefully to other parents - that the public school classroom isn't the only place our kids should get an education.

ACS Extras*

The Texas Tribune's Elise Hu takes us to the last public hearing day at the SBOE where people had their last chance to tell board members how they feel about the guideline revisions:

May 19, 2010 — Austin, TX. 05-19-10. A behind the scenes look at the State Board of Education, which is adopting history curriculum standards this week.

The SBOE Gets an Earful
by Nathan Bernier, KUT/Texas Tribune



*ACS Exras are in no way affiliated with or represent the views of the Austin Citysphere.  Furthermore, content included under ACS Extras are the work of The Texas Tribune and KUT Radio.  The mediums are separate from the opinion editorial by Sarah Loyd, Austin Citysphere Managing Editor.