Texas Textbook Hearings Begin

MYFOXNY.COM - In a building named after a hero of the battle of the Alamo -- another battle is being fought. This time, it's a battle in the culture war.

Members of the Texas State Board of Education are trying to hash out what should and should not be in the social studies textbooks of 4.7 million students in Texas and beyond. That's because what Texas wants ends up in textbooks used all over the country.

There are 15 members of the state board; 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. But ideologically however, it's pretty much down the middle. Social conservatives have been working for years to rid school books of what they see as liberal slant. They see it as a chance to shape young minds.

Cynthia Dunbar of the Texas Board of Education says, "This is a huge issue because one of favorites is Abe Lincoln ‘the philosophy in schoolroom in one generation is philosophy of government in next’ so we are looking what philosophy are students going to garner from these social studies s textbooks."

One conservative on the board didn't like what he saw in the draft recommendations this time around.

Don McLeroy says: "I noticed the review committee had deleted describe the role religion played in the founding of our country. I was stunned. I was shocked."

Mavis Knight on the Texas Board of Education says, "From my perspective, it gets to be the point of being a little silly."

Knight believes that social conservatives are trying to hijack the educational process. But she also has issues she cares about.

Knight says, "I will have a strong voice against any effort to minimize ethnic groups."

Knight will have the support of 4 other Democrats and the occasional support of three moderate Republicans who often differ with the social conservatives on the state board. To make things more interesting, several members of the board are now lame ducks and have vowed to make a last hurrah effort on the issues they care about before they leave.

Education activists on both sides are also in the mix.

Jonahtan Saenz from the Free Market Foundation says, “I am concerned about the efforts to simplify, sanitize and sanctify the substantive content of these standards.”

At times, the process is a little strange. In January there was a protracted discussion about the social relevance of hip hop music. The social conservatives by saying there needs to be a passage about the importance of country and western music.