Category Archives for State Board of Education

Thanks, Texas SBOE

When we say the State Board of Education has made Texas a laughingstock, we’re not kidding. Sunday’s Doonesbury cartoon strip:

Also posted in civil war, TFNEF | 9 Comments

‘Was the Civil War About Slavery?’

Ever since the tragedy in South Carolina on June 17, when a 21-year-old suspect motivated by white supremacist beliefs shot and killed nine African-American worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, there has been a renewed attention on Confederate history and what caused the Civil War. We here at TFN have even […]

Also posted in civil war, TFNEF | 19 Comments

The Logic of the Wall Street Journal, if You Can Call It That

The Wall Street Journal put up an editorial this week praising Gov. Greg Abbott for his appointment of Donna Bahorich to chair the Texas State Board of Education. TFN was just one voicing concern over Bahorich’s appointment, in part because she “rejected public education for her own family” and home-schooled her children. And here’s some […]

Also posted in Donna Bahorich, TFNEF | 7 Comments

Oh Please, Don, Let Us Roll Our Eyes at You Even Harder

On Thursday Donna Bahorich was appointed the new chair of the Texas State Board of Education. In this Houston Chronicle story on Bahorich’s appointment, a former chair, Don McLeroy, left the following comment: I find it ironic that it its Mr. Ratliff, and the Texas Freedom Network(By the way, thank you for not including them […]

Also posted in Don McLeroy, Donna Bahorich, TFNEF | 4 Comments

Gov. Greg Abbott Appoints SBOE Member Donna Bahorich as New Chair

Gov. Greg Abbott today announced the appointment of Texas State Board of Education member Donna Bahorich, R-Houston, as board chair. Bahorich replaces Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands. We just sent out the following press release: Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller is expressing disappointment in Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision, announced today, to appoint State Board of […]

Also posted in Barbara Cargill, Donna Bahorich, Greg Abbott, TFNEF | 12 Comments

Advocates Applaud Publishers for Removing Climate Change Denialism from Texas Textbooks, Putting Education Ahead of Politics

Proposed social studies textbooks for Texas public schools will not include climate-change denial. In late reversals, two publishing heavyweights, Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill, have both confirmed that they will submit corrected textbooks this week at the SBOE. TFN distributed the following news release in response to the corrections. Publishers have agreed to correct or remove […]

Also posted in climate change, social studies adoption (2014), TFNEF | 4 Comments

Cowardice and Contempt for the Law on the Texas State Board of Education

It seems that at least one member of the Texas State Board of Education likes to attack colleagues behind their back rather than address them face-to-face. And that same board member appears willing to break the law to hide such deceitful tactics. We told you last month that Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, sent his state board colleagues a private memo chastising them […]

Also posted in TFNEF | 8 Comments

Ten Outrageous Changes Publishers Agreed to Make to Texas Social Studies Textbooks in 2002

The State Board of Education is set this year to adopt new social studies textbooks for Texas public schools. So we went back to our files to see what happened during the last social studies textbook adoption in the Lone Star State more than a decade ago. During public hearings and in written comments submitted in […]

Also posted in social studies adoption (2014), TFNEF | 9 Comments

SBOE Politics as Usual: Textbook Review Once Again Plagued by Lack of Expertise

The Texas State Board of Education will vote in November on new social studies textbooks that will be in Texas classrooms for the next decade. Earlier this month, official state review panels met in Austin to vet those books. As we did during the science textbook adoption process last year, the Texas Freedom Network researched who got appointed to the […]

Also posted in social studies adoption (2014), textbooks, TFNEF | 6 Comments

The SBOE Approved the Ethnic Studies Proposal. Now What?

After 2,358 of your petition signatures and testimony from dozens of Texans in support, the State Board of Education today voted to make it easier for Texas schools to offer courses in Mexican-American, African-American, Native American and Asian-American studies. The 12-2 vote means publishers will have a chance to submit to the state instructional materials […]

Also posted in Mexican-American studies, TFNEF | Leave a comment