Tomorrow: Texas Board To Decide on Preventing Religious Discrimination in Textbooks
As you may have heard, the Texas State Board of Education has been presented with a resolution on “Balanced Treatment of Religious Groups” in Texas textbooks. A former president of a Texas local school board has prepared a resolution, outlining in great detail, support for his concern that a “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted past Texas textbooks.”
The SBOE adopted updated social studies standards earlier this year and the adoption of new versions of such textbooks usually follows.
| The anti-religious discrimination resolution discusses World History textbooks officially adopted for use in Texas between 1999-2002. However, some of these 1999-2002 textbooks may still be being used in Texas classrooms. The resolution also discusses textbooks used in other parts of the country. In Texas, World History textbooks are used at the high school level.”
The resolution does not specifically address textbooks approved to be used currently in Texas classrooms since 2003, because State Board of Education rules do not allow for discussion by the SBOE on currently adopted textbooks. Such opportunity expired 90 days after such textbooks were adopted. However, it appears that if the resolution could discuss currently adopted textbooks, that similar criticisms and concerns about anti-christian/pro-Islam bias would be claimed. Liberal critics of the anti-religious discrimination resolution have based their negative critique of the resolution on information in different textbooks, textbooks which are not discussed in the resolution.” Liberty Institute works to prevent religious discrimination and is committed to state the facts about efforts to dilute the truth in public schools. We believe discrimination by the government on the basis of religion is wrong. We will be at the Texas State Board of Education hearing on Friday, testifying and supporting efforts to prevent religious discrimination or bias in our textbooks. |