New textbooks censored by the Texas Board of Education could spread like wildfire to schools in the other 49 states – unless we act now.
Hyper-conservative, scientifically inept members of the Texas State Board of Education have demanded that textbook publishers make troubling changes to their history textbooks. Publishers must omit mention of separation of church and state and downplay the importance of Latinos in US history if they want to sell their textbooks in Texas.
Now, due to Texas’ enormous buying power, textbook publishers like Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Prentice Hall may feel economic pressure to offer only textbooks with these upsetting modifications. We need to make sure these censored textbooks don’t find their way into public schools nationwide and taint our own state education systems. Your state could be next.
Will you help send the message that we will not tolerate this unacceptable rewriting of history?
Thankfully, many states have the power to recommend only the best textbooks for use in public schools in different districts. They need to know not to adopt faulty textbooks filled with inaccuracies and prejudice.
No matter where you live, help send the message to decision makers at the Boards of Education in 5 key states – Oregon, West Virginia, Virginia, Idaho, and Louisiana – not to recommend textbooks affected by the Texas Board of Education changes so that textbooks throughout the United States stay unbiased and educational.
Photo credit: Ashraf Saleh
Don’t adopt textbooks affected by right-wing TX modifications
Greetings,
I would like to express my frustration that textbooks with biased modifications made by the Texas Board of Education could make their way into public schools nationwide. These changes include omitting the concept of separation of church and state and downplaying the importance of Latinos in US history. Textbooks with these changes threaten the quality of public education.
In order to uphold the highest standards for our youths’ educational materials, I urge you to make textbook recommendations to the state’s school districts that reject inaccurate educational materials and support accurate, unbiased textbooks.
[Your name]