September 16, 2014 5:10 PM

Stuck in Time: SBOE faces wave of opposition to new history books

The compromise the SBOE struck on social studies standards appears to have pleased no one

The State Board of Education on Tuesday took a full day to hear testimony, much of it unhappy, about what is in and out of the state’s social studies textbooks: religion; native culture; the Middle East conflict; and even the role of Moses in America’s founding.

The Texas Freedom Network put out a four-part series last week from a panel of history schools. The series, which reviewed history, geography and government textbooks had praise for a few – witness Edmentum’s balanced approach to US Government textbooks – but mostly criticize textbook publishers for slanting history in order to curry favor with the far right members on the State Board of Education.

Professor Edward Countryman of Southern Methodist University wrote that his heart went out to Texas history teachers.

By Kimberly Reeves