Still at a Standstill
You may already know that the Texas Board of Education leans notoriously to the right when they approve what goes into kid’s textbooks. They like to include conservative heroes like Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh and if theres any room leftover they might squeeze in any of the other stuff. But thats old news.
What you may not know (I certainly didn’t) is that the Board’s decisions have a national impact. Because Texas is the 2nd most populous state in the union, when it buys textbooks it means that other states are also buying the same book. So while having a book that includes the Moral Majority in the text may play well here (sort of anyway), it won’t play well in blue states. Its that power that made the Board a target of ridicule by the Daily Show last week. Whether you agree with Jon Stewart’s jokes or not, the board does not come across well.
Given this information it seems glaringly important to try to modernize the Board and in particular change it from being an elected body. That might prevent the current partisanship that has caused much turmoil. Thats not a new sentiment and its something that people have talked about but actually getting it done will take a long time. In the meantime other states might be better off trying to find ways to make their own textbooks maybe by making the switch to digital textbooks (saves tons of taxpayer dollars after all).But more than anything this should be a wakeup call that maybe you shouldn’t rely on Texas if you’re looking to keep your kids well educated.
