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Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige Wednesday called on the State Board of Education to delay action on new curriculum standards for social studies, saying the political bias in the proposal needs to eliminated. Paige, a former Houston schools superintendent who served in the Bush administration, also said the board has sidestepped negative aspects of American history such as mistreatment of minorities in the past.
"We have allowed ideology to drive and define the standards of our Texas curriculum and it has swung from liberal to conservative depending on the members of state board," Paige told board members at the start of an all-day public hearing on the standards for U.S. history, government and other social studies courses. "What students are taught should not be the handmaiden of political ideology." His comments supported criticism of the social conservative bloc on the board that has sought to put more emphasis on Republicans and conservatives in the standards. Those board members contend they are trying to bring balance to teaching of social studies.
Paige also questioned the board's decision to include so many requirements in the U.S. history standards. "You are driving and narrowing the flexibility for teachers and schools to educate their students," he said. Some board members asked Paige to offer specifics to support his criticism, but he declined, saying it was not his intent to suggest where