A friend of mine alerted me to the Texas State Board of Education’s recommendations for the social studies curriculum and I have to admit they were pretty interesting. According to the Dallas Morning News, some of the proposals that have come and gone as the State Board of Education revised the social studies curriculum dealt with:

Civil rights leaders: Experts appointed by social conservative board members recommended that labor leader César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice on the Supreme Court, be stricken from the standards, but the board opted to keep them in.

Christmas: A curriculum-writing team dropped Christmas from a list of important religious holidays in a world cultures course, but the board ordered Christmas back on the list.

Conservative groups: The board voted to require that U.S. history students learn about leading conservative individuals and groups from the 1980s and 1990s. There is no similar requirement for liberal individuals and groups, although some are included in the standards.

McCarthyism: Social conservatives pushed through an amendment that requires a more positive portrayal of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his claims that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists in the 1950s. McCarthy’s tactics have been discredited by most historians.

The Alamo: In studying the famous battle, students must learn “about the 189 heroes who gave their lives” in the fight, but Republicans rejected a move by Democrats to include in the standards the names of the eight Tejanos – Hispanics who lived in early Texas – who were killed alongside Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William B. Travis.

Rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop: Students will have to study a list of influential musical and cultural movements in America that includes rock ‘n’ roll, Tin Pan Alley, country music and the Beat Generation. But social conservatives beat back an effort to include hip-hop after some members complained that its often crude lyrics are inappropriate for students.

It’s sad that politics plays such a large role in our children’s education. I can’t remember the last time I was asked who fought at the Alamo, but I do know it was something I needed to learn to past the test. The lessons you learn in the classroom are just the beginning and as a father who has a child that’s about to enter the Texas school system, I hope I can teach him to have a love for learning. That in my opinion, is the greatest gift a child can have. Because when you have that, a socially conservative written textbook won’t make as much of an impact as the Board hopes.

Conservatives on Texas board leaving legacy in schools but losing clout

Texas schools board rewrites US history with lessons promoting God and guns