In the fight against liberal revisionism, Texas strikes major blow

Texas has approved controversial new history textbooks which have been criticized by academics as more full of politics than true history.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - More than 5 million public school students will use the new textbooks in fall of 2015, after the Texas State Board of Education sanctioned 89 books and classroom software packages.

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Six potential textbooks were removed and an additional seven were withdrawn by publishers after hours of heated debate. Hundreds of last-minute edits were required.

There was a proposal to delay a vote to allow the education board and general public to view the revised books, but that failed to pass.

"I'm comfortable enough that these books have been reviewed by many, many people," said the board's vice chairman, Thomas Ratliff. "They are not perfect; they never will be."

The numerous history, social studies and government textbooks went under fire almost immediately following their submission over the summer, criticized by academics on both the right and left.

Some criticisms include an overtly negative or positive portrayal of Muslims and historical Islam, downplaying the achievements of former President Ronald Reagan, overstate the importance of Moses on the Founding Fathers or glorify the free-market system too much.

The root of the problem began in 2010, when the Republican controlled board approved educational standards that championed traditional conservative policies and worldviews in an effort to strike back at an apparent liberal bias in classrooms in Texas and the rest of the country.

The November 21 vote ended 10-5. All Republicans were in favor of the books, and all Democrats opposed them. This book will be used for at least ten years.

With one of the largest school systems in the nation, the decision by the Texas board may have a great deal of sway with the rest of the nation. Education is a prime issue among Americans, especially in light of changes to public curriculum brought about by the Common Core program.

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