I’ve written before about how the Texas State Board of Education has been hijacked by ideologue fundamentalist Christians, and how this has repercussions for the entire country. (See here and here.) There is currently a project on Kickstarter to fund the editing of a documentary about creationist Don McLeroy, longtime chair of the TSBOE. In the trailer on the Kickstarter page there are several shots of people speaking in front of a group holding up pro-science signs. As it happens, I was in that group and am out of frame to the left of several of those shots. The project has almost reached its funding goal; I’d encourage anyone interested in this subject to help it along.
Tag: TSBOE
In a lovely bit of validation for my “This man must lose his job for the good of the country!” rant of two days ago, the New York Times Magazine has just published a ten page article on Texas education guidelines, with profiles of Don McLeroy, Gail Lowe, and Cynthia Dunbar. (Dunbar is perhaps the craziest of them, and briefly gained national attention in 2008 for claiming that Obama was a member of Al-Qaida. All are still on the board of education.) The whole thing is worth reading, if only for the portrait it paints of these grotesquely colorful characters. But the most important thing in it is probably this excerpt from page 2:
But Tom Barber, who worked as the head of social studies at the three biggest textbook publishers before running his own editorial company, says, “Texas was and still is the most important and most influential state in the country.” And James Kracht, a professor at Texas A&M’s college of education and a longtime player in the state’s textbook process, told me flatly, “Texas governs 46 or 47 states.”
This only a local election with regard to who gets to vote in it. McLeroy needs to go. There are 19 days left. Here’s the opposition movement website again: District 9 Citizens for a Smart State Board of Education.
I haven’t been blogging a lot this year, but I’m breaking radio silence now because this one is big. A guy from Texas who you might never have heard of is running for re-election, and unusual as it might seem, it is strongly in your interest that he not win.
Don McLeroy is currently on the Texas State Board of Education. In fact, until very recently he was the Chair of the TSBOE. He is a young earth creationist, and during his time as chair worked with the creationist group The Discovery Institute to rewrite state science curricula to reflect his religious ideology, supported by several other religious conservatives on the Board. This culminated in late 2008 with a series of open hearings about proposed changes to the curriculum that brought people from all over the state — including me — to Austin to spend hours and hours testifying against the adulteration of science education in Texas. The turnout was so unprecedented that the state legislature was forced to take notice, and eventually led to the loss of his chairmanship. (Look through the archives of the Texas Freedom Network for more details.) Our republican governor replaced him as chair with another TSBOE member, Gail Lowe; another creationist, but one of lower profile. The battle rages wearily on.
Why This Matters To You
Assuming that you are a United States citizen, the actions of the TSBOE affect you, whether you live in Texas or not. Back in 2002 the New York Times reported that Texas comprised 10% of the US textbook market, second only to California, and that textbook publishers were already changing the content of their products to meet Texas’s conservative tastes. “Many publishers write their books with the Texas and California markets in mind, but complain of political pressure.” Today California is $20 billion in debt, and has slashed its education budget statewide. Texas is now the biggest game in textbook town. The curriculum guidelines in Texas are going to influence the educational products available throughout the country.
There are seven creationists on the 15-member TSBOE, and three other board members who are politically conservative, but not avowedly creationist. Of the lunatic fringe, McLeroy, following his ouster as Chair, is the most politically vulnerable. There are 21 days left until the votes are cast, and a grassroots movement to oppose his re-election in District 9 has started. It’s currently seeking donations, and as this is a small local election (albeit one with potentially far-reaching consequences), their needs are relatively modest. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in the state of public education in the U.S. to look over the links provided by the District 9 Citizens for a Smart State Board of Education, listen to their proposed radio ad, and consider helping them reach (or hopefully exceed) their financial goal. You will be helping to reduce by one the number of fundamentalist ideologues on the most influential board of education in the country.