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Texas Legislation - 2003 Session
HB 1447
This bill was written by far-right Texas House members to
return the authority of the State Board of Education to edit and
censor public school curriculum and textbooks. This authority had
been stripped from the State Board--long dominated by the far-right--by the
Texas Legislature in 1995 for gross misuse: the board members had censored and
rejected many perfectly legitimate and accurate textbooks--science books,
history books, civics books, health books, even the
dictionary!--that contained items or readings that Board members
believed opposed their political and religious views.
These actions generated a great deal of embarrassing publicity for
Texas in the national press. The SBOE was now restricted to
editing or rejecting books only if they contained "factual
errors," but even this restriction did not limit the Board, since
they were willing and able to decide for themselves whether an
item--such as global warming, excessive human population
growth, and environmental degradation--was a fact (according to the Board, these examples were
not facts).
In order to regain their stranglehold on
textbook content in Texas, some of the SBOE members asked for this
reactionary piece of legislation to be written to return to the
board the right to censor and reject textbooks on the basis of the
board members' personal social, political, and religious viewpoints.
The board's history proves that it is ready to exercise this power
again to censor and reject science textbooks against the advice and
testimony of scientists. This legislation must be opposed.
H.B. No.1447
By: Howard
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the State Board of Education review of public
school textbooks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) Each textbook on a conforming or nonconforming list
must:
(1) be free from factual errors, including
errors of commission or omission related to viewpoint
discrimination or special interest advocacy on major issues, as
determined by the State Board of Education; and
(2) comply with textbook content guidelines adopted by
the board under Subsection (c).
(c) The State Board of Education shall by rule adopt
guidelines that define general textbook content standards under
this subchapter, including standards related to curriculum
requirements under Section 28.002. The board shall reject any
textbook that does not comply with the textbook content standards
adopted under this subsection.
HB 1172
This bill was written by far-right Texas House members similar to
those who wrote HB 1447. As you can read, it has long been the policy of the Texas
Legislature to censor textbooks to ensure that only positive information about the
free enterprise system and American values, such as patriotism and democracy, are
included. Many states have similar statutes
regarding the public school curriculum and textbooks, usually to
promote an appreciation of American capitalism and the free
society, and to implicitly exclude information about other
important topics, such as the problems and excesses of capitalism
or the benefits of socialism.
This bill is strange, however, in
that items (1) and (4) are redundant--essentially restatements of
already-required policies--and item (2) is trivial and unnecessary.
The key item is (3), which is stealth legislation intended to
promote teachng creationism and intelligent design in addition to
evolution in biology classes. The terms "balanced manner" and
"multiple viewpoints" are creationist catch-terms, since one of
their ploys is to insist that creationism and ID are just as
scientific as evolution, so that both should be included in a fair
and balanced curruculum. If this bill is passed, the first action
taken by its proponents would be to insist that creationism
receive balanced treatment in public schools along with biological evolution.
The hilarious fact about the bill's item (3) is that--if enacted and
seriously enforced--it would actually serve to negate the intent of the
original and long-established Texas statutory requirements to
promote only capitalism and the free enterprise system, since the
bill would require that "controversial issues" such as competing
economic and political systems all be "presented in a
balanced manner that reflects multiple viewpoints regarding the
issues." This would be the first time in history that socialism
would receive a positive presentation in a Texas school
classroom.
H.B. No. 1172
By: Madden
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school curriculum and textbooks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.002(h), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) The State Board of Education and each school district shall
foster the continuation of the tradition of teaching United States
and Texas history and the free enterprise system in regular
subject matter and in reading courses and in the adoption of
textbooks. A primary purpose of the public school curriculum is to
prepare thoughtful, active citizens who understand the importance
of patriotism and can function productively in a free enterprise
society with appreciation for the basic democratic values of our
state and national heritage. In meeting that primary purpose,
the board and each school district shall ensure that:
(1) the public school curriculum reflects the importance of
patriotism and promotes an appreciation for our free enterprise
system and basic democratic values;
(2) each historical event addressed in the public school
curriculum meets a reasonable test of historical significance,
considering the limited amount of time available for
instruction;
(3) each controversial issue addressed in the public school
curriculum is presented in a balanced manner that reflects
multiple viewpoints regarding the issue; and
(4) the public school curriculum reflects an overall tone
that portrays the United States as a country that has overcome its
mistakes and emerged as the freest, most democratic nation in the
history of the world.
Last updated: 2004/07/25
