July | 2009 | TFN Insider

Monthly Archives: July 2009

Oh no they didn’t!

How much do you know about the far-right bloc on the Texas State Board of Education? Take the TFN Quiz and find out! Then share the link with your friends and help spread the word about radicalism on the state board.

Posted in State Board of Education, Uncategorized | 9 Comments |


The Religious Right, Lies and Hate Crimes

The religious right’s campaign against a stronger federal law on hate crimes has increasingly been, well, hateful. An e-mail blast from one Texas-based pressure group this morning calls on recipients to express “opposition to the pending hate crimes legislation, also known as the “Pedophile Protection Act” due to its inclusion of pedophiles as a protected [...]

Posted in hate crimes, LGBT issues, religious right | 8 Comments |


‘Worst Person in the World’ – Texas Edition

Popular MSNBC host Keith Olbermann turned his withering gaze to Texas last Friday, excoriating Governor Rick Perry for even considering public school-hater Cynthia Dunbar for chair of the state’s Board of Education. Dunbar’s outlandish comments landed the governor the top spot on Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” list. You won’t want to miss this [...]

Posted in Cynthia Dunbar, Rick Perry | 5 Comments |


Gail Lowe, Politics and Social Studies

It didn’t take long. Gail Lowe is already showing why the Texas Freedom Network is concerned about Gov. Rick Perry’s appointment of her as chair of the Texas State Board of Education. Lowe appointed David Barton — head of WallBuilders, a far-right organization that opposes separation of church and state — to a panel of s0-called [...]

Posted in Gail Lowe | 7 Comments |


Gail Lowe = More of the Same

If you wondered if the appointment of Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, as new State Board of Education chair signals a new direction for the embattled board, Lowe’s fellow board member — and fellow culture warrior — Terri Leo, R-Spring, has an answer for you: “Philosophically I believe she is the most conservative SBOE member. We tease [...]

Posted in Gail Lowe | 4 Comments |


Breaking News: Perry Picks Lowe to Head SBOE

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has just appointed Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, as chairman of the State Board of Education. Lowe will replace Don McLeroy, whose nomination as chairman the state Senate rejected in May. In a press release announcing the appointment. Gov. Perry expressed confidence “that through her leadership, we will continue to ensure that Texans [...]

Posted in Gail Lowe | 31 Comments |


McLeroy Defends Unqualified ‘Experts’

Don McLeroy — the College Station Republican whose nomination as chairman of the State Board of Education the Texas Senate rejected in May — is defending unqualified, board-appointed “experts” who want important historical figures like César Chavez and Thurgood Marshall removed from social studies curriculum standards for public schools. McLeroy is quoted in a Dallas Morning News [...]

Posted in David Barton, Don McLeroy, Peter Marshall | 7 Comments |


The Right Pushes for Dunbar Appointment

One of the Ten Commandments forbids lying, but far-right pressure groups seem to think it doesn’t apply to them. Mistruths are plentiful in their campaign to get Cynthia Dunbar named chair of the Texas State Board of Education. The biggest lie is that opponents of her appointment are discriminating against Dunbar because of her religious [...]

Posted in Cynthia Dunbar | 6 Comments |


Blacklisting César Chavez

It didn’t take long for the absurdly unqualified ideologues appointed to a social studies curriculum panel by the Texas State Board of Education to start playing politics with our kids’ education. Two far-right members of the so-called “expert” panel guiding the curriculum revision are demanding that César Chavez — the renowned community and labor organizer and civil [...]

Posted in Cesar Chavez, social studies, Thurgood Marshall | 34 Comments |


Dunbar to Head SBOE?

Could it get any worse? Could someone who despises public education soon be heading up the board tasked with managing the Texas public school system? Well, the buzz suggesting that Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, may be the next chair of the Texas State Board of Education is growing louder, writes Hearst Capitol bureau reporter Gary Scharrer for the Houston [...]

Posted in Cynthia Dunbar | 24 Comments |