Texas' education standards alarm legislator in California
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A California state legislator who once sat on the San Francisco school board says he plans legislation to make sure that Texas' new social studies curriculum standards stay out of California.
Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, joined a national chorus of criticism of the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for social studies, tentatively approved last week by the Republican-dominated State Board of Education.
The final vote on the standards is set for May.
Some conservative outlets have praised the work of the board, but other media reports have registered fears that what Texas teaches its more than 4.7 million schoolchildren could have implications nationwide because of the size of its textbook purchases.
"I think, to put it politely, I was flabbergasted," Yee said of some of the changes pushed through by the majority of the 15-member board.
"You would think that in the 21st century that we all kind of understand history fairly well. What I saw was a rewriting of history, and that is pretty sad and disappointing."
On Friday, criticism specifically about the board's handling of Thomas Jefferson prompted Chairwoman Gail Lowe to issue a statement outlining other areas of the standards where students are required to learn about Jefferson. Those include fifth-grade, eighth-grade and high school U.S. government courses.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/20/2053711/texas-education-standards-alarm.html#ixzz0iix4jCVu