SECULAR Center

About: The Texans for Truthful Textbooks rally is organized to protest the Texas State Board of Education's recent decision to inject conservative politics and personal agendas into the state's textbook curriculum by changing the social studies standards in several significant ways. The curriculum standards, originally developed by teachers and scholars, were altered over a period of two board meetings without consulting with the appropriate subject-matter experts and represent a blatant attempt at revisionist history. 

Selected Examples:

1.     Removed Thomas Jefferson from a World History standard about Enlightenment thinkers who have influenced political revolutions around the world, replacing him with John Calvin, Thomas Aquinas, and William Blackstone.  (1)

2.     Rejected a proposed requirement that students learn why the nation's founders banned government from promoting one religion over others.  (2)

3.     Changed standards to suggest that the anti-communism "witch hunts" led by Joseph McCarthy were justified.  (3)

4.     Altered standards to present American-style capitalism in a superior light with no balancing critique.  The word "capitalism" was replaced by "free enterprise system" throughout the curriculum.  (4)

5.     Added a section on the alleged "Conservative Resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s", overstating the historical significance of this movement. (5)

      6.     Changed date references from BCE (Before Common Era) to BC (Before Christ). (6)

To learn more about the proposed changes or to see who sits on the Texas State Board of Education, please visit the following websites:

American Atheists Missouri - http://missouriatheists.org/

http://www.kvue.com/news/Board-of-Education-to-vote-on-new-curriculum-for-textbooks-93899039.html

Our Coalition: Co-sponsoring organizations are working to make this rally as diverse and culturally representative of Texas as possible.  The current sponsors of this rally are mostly from the local and national secular movement, although this is not intended to be a secular event and is not anti-religious. 

Current co-sponsors include:

• American Atheists
• SECULAR Center
• Unitarians of Bell County
• Camp Quest Texas
• Military Association of Atheist and Freethinkers (CENTEX Chapter)
• American Humanist Association
• Secular Student Alliance
• Secular Coalition of America
• Richard Dawkins Foundation
• Freedom from Religion Foundation
• Atheist Community of Austin

Special thanks to the Texas Freedom Network who has provided some assistance with the event. 

Take Action!  We need your help to make this event a success!  The Texans for Truthful Textbooks Coalition invites any interested parties to attend the rally and spread the word.  We are still looking for co-sponsors, especially from religious organizations.  This is an issue that can and should unite us!

We also need additional speakers - our current list of speakers are all either from Texas or have a strong connection to Texas.  They include teachers, a school board candidate, the Executive Director of the Texas Libertarians, and others.   We are especially hoping to have someone from the clergy as a speaker, as well as more teachers and some parents of kids who attend public schools.

Notes:

(1)  World History Studies (SBOE amendment).  The proposal to delete Thomas Jefferson's contribution to the Enlightenment was made by board member Cynthia Dunbar.

(2) Board member Mavis B. Knight introduced a amendment requiring students  study the reason "the founding fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring the government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion above all others" which was rejected in a party-line vote.  Board member David Bradley was quoted as saying "I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state".

(3) United States History Studies Since 1877 (SBOE amendment).

(4) Found throughout the social studies curriculum.

(5) United States History Studies Since 1877 (SBOE amendment).

(6) World History Studies (SBOE amendment).