I'm really starting to believe that Texas has nothing better to do than to change around its schools' curriculum. The Board of Education is now trying to figure out which political figures they should include in Texas history standards and textbooks. Because the state produces many of the nation's textbooks, the decisions made by the Board of Ed will impact other states, as well.

As the board decides what will be taught in history classes for the next ten years, special interest groups and experts have been weighing in--everyone from the NAACP to Rev. Peter Marshall, a so-called "expert" who produced a book called "The Light and the Glory for Children: Discovering God's Plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington."

The board has been discussing some crazy stuff--they've been debating whether or not to remove Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from a list of "model citizens" and add them instead to a list of "those who have contributed to society." I'm kind of disappointed this is what they're spending their time on.

Texas is also considering requiring students to "identify 'significant' conservatives of the 21st century," according to the Chicago Tribune. Republican David Barton, part of the board's advisory panel on the standards, claims that these changes counter the "liberals [who] overwhelmingly outnumber those who are publicly known as conservatives." Experts like Rev. Marshall are also pushing to have conservative groups such as Focus on the Family emphasized in Texas texts. Marshall actually added that he would be okay with including primarily liberal organizations such as Planned Parenthood "provided the students are made aware of Planned Parenthood's funding of abortion clinics."

I'm not exactly sure why the Board of Ed is trying to maintain a completely balanced representation of political parties in favor of just reporting important historical concepts. It's going to much more important for the students' knowledge of history to be able to relate important periods and topics in history--such as the civil rights movement--than to be able to tell me who Rush Limbaugh is.

Furthermore, I can't exactly understand why students need to know about Planned Parenthood or Focus on the Family at all in history class. In the grand scheme of things, they have really not impacted America's history.

Nevertheless, Texas, can we get it together and try to actually encourage history in the history textbooks?

If you're interested, this is the schedule the board is taking for the standards revision, courtesy of Talking Points Memo:

--This Week: Discussion by the board, with expert reviewer and some public comment.
--November: Board discusses revised recommendations from the curriculum writing teams.
--January '10: First vote by board on new standards, preceded by public hearing.
--February '10: Revised standards posted online, open for public comment.
--March '10: Final vote by board on new standards Revised standards posted online, open for public comment.
--Fall '11: New standards implemented in Texas public schools
--Fall '12: Board adopts new textbooks
--Fall '13: Texan high schoolers -- and potentially their peers around the country -- use the new textbooks
And here's a set of videos on the crazy things being discussed in the meetings.

You know, I had hoped we were over the whole "Ten Commandments and prayer in public schools" thing. I really had.

But now, apparently, a Texas bill has declared that all public high schools must offer an elective course teaching the Bible.

Okay, so it isn't as bad as it could be--it took going to the actual Texas government website and reading the text of the bill to learn that, despite media claims, it won't require mandatory Bible instruction, and that the class would only be offered in high school. And the original draft of the bill states the course "must be taught in an objective and nondevotional manner that does not attempt to indoctrinate students as to either the truth or falsity of the Judeo-Christian biblical materials." However, this moderately comforting statement--and others like it--were removed in the final draft of the bill, the draft that was approved by the Texas legislature.

Even if the Texas schools somehow manage to make these courses totally unbiased and simply wonderful in-depth studies of the literature of the Bible and the time periods it was written in, I still completely disapprove of this bill.

I have no problem with reading Biblical excerpts in schools--but in the greater context of a literature or history course, when the focus is not just on this one religious text. For example, in my World Literature class last year, we compared and contrasted the stories of the flood in both the book of Genesis and the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. However, the bill is clear that this course cannot teach "texts from other religious or cultural traditions other than the Judeo-Christian tradition."

The Old and New Testaments are important historical documents and, depending on the translation, valid pieces of literature as well. Yet by focusing so deeply on this one text during a full year's course, Texas is coming dangerously close to implying that this is the only valid text, religious or otherwise. I don't see the legislature requiring schools to offer similar courses on the Qur'an--or even a classic like Shakespeare's Hamlet or Dickens's Oliver Twist. What message does only offering an in-depth examination on the Bible send to the Muslim students? The Hindu students? The students with other religious beliefs, or the students with no religious beliefs at all?

No matter whether or not Texas fulfills its promise to keep the course unbiased, by simply having a course like this one, the Bible is elevated to a position higher than all other texts Texas high schools teach. This sort of in-depth study of only one religious text is inappropriate for a public high school, and sends the message that the United States only cares about the Judeo-Christian faiths. So much for separation of church and state.

For more information, check out a news article about the bill here: http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=10933571
And all the drafts of the bill can be found here: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB1287

Today I'd like to recognize an org in Texas that you can't mess with. Check it: twenty-one free adaptive sports programs for folks with physical disabilities in the Lone Star State.

[Right: a crew of Texans tackle the raucous world of sled hockey.]

We're talking camping, fishing, golf, handcycling, horseback riding, hunting, jet skiing, kayaking, quad rugby, sailing, swimming, water skiing—and of course—scuba diving.

It's all brought to you by RISE Adventures, a totally awesome nonprofit that provides sports opportunities for physically challenged individuals at no charge. In just two short years, those involved have secured funding and helped countless athletes find community and personal empowerment in the world of adaptive sports. RISE stands for Recovery, Inspiration, Success, and Empowerment.

As Lea Stewart told the Dallas Morning News when asked about her involvement in wheelchair rugby, "it helps you focus on the ability and not the disability."

If you happen to live near Irving, TX, RISE is always looking for volunteers to help at events. You can also donate from afar to show your support for the athletes :)