babble home
rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics


Post New Topic  Post A Reply
FAQ | Forum Home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » right brain babble   » humanities & science   » Texas discredits textbook

Email this thread to someone!    
Author Topic: Texas discredits textbook
Snuckles
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2764

posted 25 August 2005 06:36 PM      Profile for Snuckles   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Conservative groups lobbied against the science textbook.

By BRENDAN WATSON

August 25, 2005

Daniel Chiras, an environmental studies professor at Colorado College, was surprised when his publisher called to say there were “factual errors” in his book, “Environmental Science: Creating a Sustainable Future.”

Still, he made specific attributions for some of the information in his book as requested by the Texas textbook review panel. After all, he said, if his book were adopted for use in Texas high schools, he stood to earn between $100,000 and $200,000 more because Texas is second only to California in the national K-12 textbook market.

After his changes, Chiras assumed the Texas Board of Education would rubberstamp the review panel’s recommendation that the book be adopted for advanced placement science courses.

What Chiras didn’t anticipate, however, was strong opposition from Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, two conservative lobbying groups. Chiras, a visiting professor of environmental studies at Colorado College, said the groups branded him “anti-free enterprise, anti-Christian and anti-American.”

The groups had several qualms with Chiras’ book. They decried his assertion that Americans, only 5 percent of the world’s population, generate 25 percent of the greenhouse gases widely believed to contribute to global warming. They labeled him “anti-free enterprise” for describing American industries’ roles in environmental pollution, and they compared him to Osama bin Laden for noting the pollution caused by the country’s airlines.

Despite its use in some of the state’s most prestigious colleges, including Baylor University, the Texas Board of Education rejected the book by a vote of 10-5.

Two other books were adopted instead, Chiras said. One, largely funded by the coal-mining industry, contains 62 pages on mining and only four paragraphs on its environmental impact. The other changed a time reference to avoid contradicting some fundamentalist Christians’ belief that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. It amended a reference to ice ages from millions of years ago to read ice ages of the “distant past.”

“They’re massaging the books to make them say what they want them to say,” Chiras said of the Texas board and the conservative groups. “They don’t want you to discuss the problems in society, especially if they make American business look bad. And that’s not even what this book is about. It’s about honestly and openly discussing what’s happening.”

“It’s time to stand up to these people and stop this movement,” he added.


Read it here.


From: Hell | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca