Category Archives for social studies

What’s the Deal with Texas History Textbooks and the Civil War?

Since the murder of nine people at an African-American church in Charleston last month and the renewed controversy over the Confederate flag that followed, we’ve seen a slew of stories about what public school textbooks teach about the Civil War. Very early on, we got a call from the Washington Post on this question. While that reporter […]

Also posted in civil war, textbooks, TFNEF | 5 Comments

TFN President Talks Texas Textbooks with MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry

Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller, speaking Sunday on MSNBC’s The Melissa Harris-Perry Show, discussed how textbooks in Texas distort the history of the Civil War. Check out the interview in the short clip below.

Also posted in textbooks, TFNEF | 3 Comments

Don’s Rewriting History … Again

Former Texas State Board of Education chair Don McLeroy isn’t done distorting history. While McLeroy was on the board in 2010, he and his colleagues gave Texas schools new social studies curriculum standards that downplay the primary role slavery played in the Civil War. Now, as a former SBOE member, he’s rewriting the role he and other […]

Also posted in Don McLeroy, textbooks, TFNEF | 19 Comments

Scholar Reviews Highlight Problems in Proposed Texas Social Studies Textbooks

The TFN Education Fund sent the following press release regarding proposed social studies textbooks up for consideration by the Texas State Board of Education this year. Scholar Reviews Highlight Problems in Proposed Texas Social Studies Textbooks Exaggerations, Distortions Reflect Flaws in Controversial Curriculum Standards   Social studies textbooks under state consideration for public schools this […]

Also posted in TFNEF | 1 Comment

TFN Calls for Investigation of Texas Charter School Operator Amid Allegations of Politicized Curriculum Materials

Ideologues trying to politicize our children’s classrooms aren’t just focused on traditional public schools. A report published today alleges that one of the largest charter school operators in Texas is using curriculum materials to indoctrinate students with anti-science and right-wing propaganda. We just sent out this press release: The president of the Texas Freedom Network […]

Also posted in charter schools, Responsive Education Solutions, science, TFNEF | 11 Comments

Dear Religious Right: It’s Not About You

If you happened to be on Twitter or on your favorite conservative website on Sunday, you may have noticed the latest faux outrage on the right. Search engine Google, on its homepage, transformed its famous doodle into a version featuring the late labor leader Cesar Chavez. The Google Doodle has become a bit of an […]

Also posted in Cesar Chavez, TFNEF | 5 Comments

TV Premiere of ‘The Revisioniares’ Tonight and Tuesday on PBS

Starting tonight, everyone gets a chance to watch the award-winning documentary “The Revisionaries,” a film by director Scott Thurman that tells the story of the religious right’s culture warriors at the Texas State Board of Education and the Texas Freedom Network’s efforts to stop their efforts to undermine instruction on evolution and politicize social studies […]

Also posted in evolution, science, State Board of Education, TFNEF, The Revisionaries | 3 Comments

TV Premiere of ‘The Revisionaries’ on PBS Next Monday

Don McLeroy and Cynthia Dunbar are coming to your home. Relax. We don’t mean literally. No, we mean they’ll be there along with TFN in “The Revisionaries.” The critically-acclaimed and award-winning documentary that premiered in theaters last year is making its TV premiere Jan. 28, one week from today. And you also have a chance […]

Also posted in evolution, science, State Board of Education, TFNEF, The Revisionaries | 2 Comments

New Orleans Schools Say ‘No’ to ‘Revisionist’ History from Texas

How badly has the State Board of Education wrecked the educational reputation of Texas? Pretty badly, if a policy adopted this week by the local school board in New Orleans is any indication. On Tuesday the Orleans Parish Public Schools board passed the following policy: “No history textbook shall be approved which has been adjusted […]

Also posted in creationism, evolution, intelligent design, science and religion, State Board of Education, TFNEF | 10 Comments

‘The Revisionaries’ Held Over in Austin

“The Revisionaries,” the award-winning documentary about the textbook wars at the Texas State Board of Education, is getting another week-long run at Austin’s Violet Crown Cinema. If you didn’t get a chance to catch this must-see film last week, make the time to go between now and November 8. “The Revisionaries” is an unprecedented behind-the-scenes […]

Also posted in evolution, science, State Board of Education, TFNEF, The Revisionaries | Leave a comment