Category Archives for Bill Ames
Texas Textbook Activist Insists Civil Rights Successes Led to ‘Burning and Looting,’ Slavery Was a Minor Cause of Civil War
Another sign that the social studies textbook adoption in Texas this year is going to be messy: A political activist who helped write new curriculum standards for the state’s public schools in 2009 is insisting that new textbooks under consideration this year should promote his revisionist views on issues such as slavery and the Civil […]
Also posted in social studies adoption (2014), TFNEF
9 Comments
Why Letting Extremists Develop Curriculum Standards for Schools Is a Bad Idea
For reasons unknown, the conservative website Texas Insider insists on publishing the rants of a race-obsessed, right-wing activist. The newest rant from Bill Ames, who has criticized what he sees as an “overrepresentation of minorities” in social studies curriculum standards, once again claims that “leftists” hate America. And it’s predictably filled with ridiculous mistruths. In […]
Also posted in Don McLeroy, social studies, State Board of Education, TFNEF
5 Comments
Race and the Texas Social Studies Standards
A screed published Friday on a San Antonio Express-News blog provides a good example of why it’s a bad idea to turn over to political activists decisions about what our kids learn in their public schools. In his post, Bill Ames lashes out at critics of the heavily politicized new social studies curriculum standards the […]
Also posted in social studies
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Bill Ames on Abortion and the SBOE
Bill Ames, appointed by Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy to a social studies curriculum writing team, has commented on our post about the relevance of abortion politics to the state board. We are reposting Mr. Ames’ comment here in its entirety: I will explain exactly what abortion politics have to do with […]
Also posted in abortion, sex education, State Board of Education
10 Comments
The Battle over History and Education
We have seen a series of stories in the last few days about the coming debate at the State Board of Education this week on proposed new social studies curriculum standards in Texas public schools. The Austin American-Statesman yesterday looked at efforts by conservative evangelicals to require that students learn that the United States was […]
Also posted in church and state, social studies
4 Comments
Far-right Activists Descend on Texas SBOE
The Texas State Board of Education has made clear that it will hold a public hearing on proposed social studies curriculum standards in January. But far-right pressure groups apparently decided to preempt that hearing today. Despite no prior public indication from the board that there would be extensive testimony on the standards today, nearly two […]
Also posted in religious right, State Board of Education
13 Comments
The ‘Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy’
We told you last week that Texas State Board of Education members and their appointees helping revise social studies curriculum standards have embarked on a campaign of blanket smears and unhinged rants against just about everyone else involved in the process. One of those appointees, Bill Ames, has yet another column up on the conservative […]
Unhinged
It appears that the Texas State Board of Education‘s social conservatives and their supporters have embarked on a new campaign of blanket smears against almost everyone involved in the revision of social studies curriculum standards. And the attacks increasingly sound almost like unhinged rants. This week state board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, and Bill […]
Also posted in Ken Mercer
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Political Extremism and Curriculum Standards
In March the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) ambushed teachers and others who have been working to revise social studies curriculum standards for the state’s public schools. TPPF charged that the curriculum writing teams — made up of teachers, academics and others — were drafting standards that left out important historical figures such as George Washington […]
Also posted in Peter Morrison, social studies, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Tom Owens
11 Comments
‘Overrepresentation of Minorities’
Another early hint of trouble brewing in the Texas State Board of Education‘s revision of social studies curriculum standards: attacks on minority contributions to American history and society. And once again Chairman Don McLeroy, R-College Station, is right in the middle of the brouhaha.
Also posted in social studies
18 Comments