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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Let me introduce you to Mary Lou Brunner. \u00a0This Grandmotherly woman is (as one can see), \u00a0a Republican, \u00a0and, over the past month or so has been running for \u00a0a seat on ![\"TextBooks_MaryLouBrunner.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/TextBooks_MaryLouBrunner-300x169.jpg\")
the Texas State School Board. \u00a0 Like MOST Republicans, \u00a0she drapes a flag around her shoulders, \u00a0 to, \u00a0I assume, \u00a0prove that she is the REAL Patriot in the contest. \u00a0 \u00a0She looks like a kindly, little, old \u00a0lady that would have really great cookies ready for you when you show up at her house, \u00a0does she not? \u00a0 In her role as a Grandmother, \u00a0 we should be sure that she would dispense pearls of wisdom to us, \u00a0garnered from a lifetime of experience, and designed to guide us on the best path for us through this complicated Journey of Life.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
the Texas State School Board. \u00a0 Like MOST Republicans, \u00a0she drapes a flag around her shoulders, \u00a0 to, \u00a0I assume, \u00a0prove that she is the REAL Patriot in the contest. \u00a0 \u00a0She looks like a kindly, little, old \u00a0lady that would have really great cookies ready for you when you show up at her house, \u00a0does she not? \u00a0 In her role as a Grandmother, \u00a0 we should be sure that she would dispense pearls of wisdom to us, \u00a0garnered from a lifetime of experience, and designed to guide us on the best path for us through this complicated Journey of Life.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHowever, alas, \u00a0 appearances can be deceiving! \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0details a number of her views of reality, \u00a0and, \u00a0frankly, \u00a0they scare the living daylights out of me. \u00a0 In short, she is a conspiracy loony, \u00a0and believes that President Obama is a secret Muslim who speaks fluent Arabic, and is focused on destroying the United States.. \u00a0 \u00a0Speaking of Conspiracy Loonies….she believes that the UN is controlled by the Illuminati, \u00a0and is part of this mysterious plan to put the world under a one government dominion, \u00a0all detailed in reports on “Agenda 21”. \u00a0 \u00a0 Now, \u00a0for the past several months, \u00a0 she has been running a strong campaign to get a seat on the Texas State School Board, and get her the power she needs to put HER Agenda into the textbooks used by all the school systems in America! \u00a0 \u00a0 As of yesterday, \u00a0though, \u00a0as reported by the New York Times<\/a>, \u00a0her bid was defeated by a somewhat more sane fellow by the name of Kevin Ellis. \u00a0 The fact that she looked as if she had a lock on the seat for much of her campaign should worry all of us though. \u00a0.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Why is the lock that Texas has on Textbooks a bad thing?<\/h2>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Why is the lock that Texas has on Textbooks a bad thing?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n- Look at Mary Lou! \u00a0 While she is, I am sure, a delightful person, \u00a0 her views of reality, \u00a0and her desire to push her agenda ensures that textbooks will end up having data in them that has NO contact with reality.\u00a0 This insistence on teaching Creationism in schools is foolish,\u00a0 as it has no facts to support it,\u00a0 but is little more than an opinion based on the fantasies of a fevered brow!<\/li>\n
- Over the years, \u00a0 the control that Texas has on content has caused history to be re-written to fit an agenda, \u00a0rather than the facts. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>, \u00a0for example, \u00a0 speaks to the “sanitizing” of history to make our Founding Fathers look like Christians, \u00a0 to ignore issues of integration, and to claim that America was founded as a Christian Nation.<\/li>\n
- The issue of Creationism versus Evolution has been a hot button for decades. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0 discusses the changes demanded by Texas.<\/li>\n
- Texas has, in the past, \u00a0required publishers to delete references to the LGBT community, \u00a0including removing contact information for suicide prevention and other help lines. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0touches on these changes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I could go on however, I think this makes the point sufficiently well that one state’s ultra-conservative agenda has, and will re-write textbooks to match their prejudices. \u00a0 \u00a0It is my view of reality that schools should be purely fact based, \u00a0and presenting ONLY \u00a0scientifically valid data to the students. \u00a0 \u00a0There is no room in education for religious indoctrination, \u00a0 or conspiracy theories based on lies, \u00a0or nothing but rumor.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0That having been said, \u00a0 I am in no way trying to call for the control of what an individual citizen believes. \u00a0 I, for one, \u00a0as a life-long Lutheran, \u00a0am quite comfortable with religion, and a belief system that includes it. \u00a0 \u00a0While I may feel that people who believe in conspiracies to take over the world, or control the population \u00a0are a bit sad, and rather ignorant, \u00a0I do not think that they should be banned from believing about the Illuminati, \u00a0or Chem-Trails, \u00a0 or Vaccines, \u00a0or any of the flood of other theories that distract from reality.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 How would I fix the problem?<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Well, \u00a0that is a challenge! \u00a0 \u00a0 One way would be to set up a section in\u00a0 the Federal Department of Education, \u00a0whose job would be to write the specifications for school text books, and, then, \u00a0have the responsibility of vetting the books published to find which ones diverged from that standard. \u00a0 \u00a0This is appealing, \u00a0in a \u00a0way, \u00a0because it would tend to remove the local bias and prejudices from published books. \u00a0 It would also leave the freedom for the publishers to print divergent books, \u00a0 that individual states could purchase. \u00a0 \u00a0 There are some problems with this approach of course. \u00a0 For example, \u00a0 it increases the size of the Federal Government. \u00a0It works on a “One Size Fits All” model that may not work well for the entire country. \u00a0 Finally, \u00a0it still allows large school systems to purchase textbooks with the same sort of factual errors I mentioned above.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We could eliminate the concept of printed textbooks entirely. \u00a0 For the cost of one book, \u00a0it would be possible to equip every student with a tablet that pulls readings, \u00a0and tests, \u00a0from a server run by some level of school board. \u00a0 This would save huge numbers of trees, \u00a0of course, \u00a0and would allow the data being presented the students \u00a0to be updated in a timely manner. \u00a0Problems with this? \u00a0 \u00a0Well, \u00a0first off, \u00a0it requires teachers to be flexible enough in their thinking to be able to deal with adding tablets and other technology to the classroom. \u00a0 It is my experience that while this problem is easing as older teachers retire and younger ones take their place, \u00a0there is still a huge resistence in the school system to change like this. \u00a0 \u00a0It also requires that all students have a level of competency with using technology. \u00a0Again, this is rather better than it used to be, but, there are still far too many kids that have not developed the skills necessary to deal with the technology. \u00a0 \u00a0It would also be a body blow to the publishers, \u00a0who make a huge profit off school textbooks. \u00a0 Finally, \u00a0it would take a level of competency to get the servers set up, \u00a0and running. \u00a0 This costs money, and, schools are perpetually low on funding.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If I could wave a magic wand and fix the problem, though, \u00a0I would go with the second option. \u00a0 Not only is technology likely to be a huge part of our society for well into the future, \u00a0 but, \u00a0there is such a flood of new information, and re-interpretations of old data happening that a printed textbook is close to being obsolete by the time it rolls off the press and into the warehouse..<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Pleasant Dreams<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bee Man Dave.<\/div>\n
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- Look at Mary Lou! \u00a0 While she is, I am sure, a delightful person, \u00a0 her views of reality, \u00a0and her desire to push her agenda ensures that textbooks will end up having data in them that has NO contact with reality.\u00a0 This insistence on teaching Creationism in schools is foolish,\u00a0 as it has no facts to support it,\u00a0 but is little more than an opinion based on the fantasies of a fevered brow!<\/li>\n
- Over the years, \u00a0 the control that Texas has on content has caused history to be re-written to fit an agenda, \u00a0rather than the facts. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>, \u00a0for example, \u00a0 speaks to the “sanitizing” of history to make our Founding Fathers look like Christians, \u00a0 to ignore issues of integration, and to claim that America was founded as a Christian Nation.<\/li>\n
- The issue of Creationism versus Evolution has been a hot button for decades. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0 discusses the changes demanded by Texas.<\/li>\n
- Texas has, in the past, \u00a0required publishers to delete references to the LGBT community, \u00a0including removing contact information for suicide prevention and other help lines. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0touches on these changes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I could go on however, I think this makes the point sufficiently well that one state’s ultra-conservative agenda has, and will re-write textbooks to match their prejudices. \u00a0 \u00a0It is my view of reality that schools should be purely fact based, \u00a0and presenting ONLY \u00a0scientifically valid data to the students. \u00a0 \u00a0There is no room in education for religious indoctrination, \u00a0 or conspiracy theories based on lies, \u00a0or nothing but rumor.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0That having been said, \u00a0 I am in no way trying to call for the control of what an individual citizen believes. \u00a0 I, for one, \u00a0as a life-long Lutheran, \u00a0am quite comfortable with religion, and a belief system that includes it. \u00a0 \u00a0While I may feel that people who believe in conspiracies to take over the world, or control the population \u00a0are a bit sad, and rather ignorant, \u00a0I do not think that they should be banned from believing about the Illuminati, \u00a0or Chem-Trails, \u00a0 or Vaccines, \u00a0or any of the flood of other theories that distract from reality.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 How would I fix the problem?<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Well, \u00a0that is a challenge! \u00a0 \u00a0 One way would be to set up a section in\u00a0 the Federal Department of Education, \u00a0whose job would be to write the specifications for school text books, and, then, \u00a0have the responsibility of vetting the books published to find which ones diverged from that standard. \u00a0 \u00a0This is appealing, \u00a0in a \u00a0way, \u00a0because it would tend to remove the local bias and prejudices from published books. \u00a0 It would also leave the freedom for the publishers to print divergent books, \u00a0 that individual states could purchase. \u00a0 \u00a0 There are some problems with this approach of course. \u00a0 For example, \u00a0 it increases the size of the Federal Government. \u00a0It works on a “One Size Fits All” model that may not work well for the entire country. \u00a0 Finally, \u00a0it still allows large school systems to purchase textbooks with the same sort of factual errors I mentioned above.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We could eliminate the concept of printed textbooks entirely. \u00a0 For the cost of one book, \u00a0it would be possible to equip every student with a tablet that pulls readings, \u00a0and tests, \u00a0from a server run by some level of school board. \u00a0 This would save huge numbers of trees, \u00a0of course, \u00a0and would allow the data being presented the students \u00a0to be updated in a timely manner. \u00a0Problems with this? \u00a0 \u00a0Well, \u00a0first off, \u00a0it requires teachers to be flexible enough in their thinking to be able to deal with adding tablets and other technology to the classroom. \u00a0 It is my experience that while this problem is easing as older teachers retire and younger ones take their place, \u00a0there is still a huge resistence in the school system to change like this. \u00a0 \u00a0It also requires that all students have a level of competency with using technology. \u00a0Again, this is rather better than it used to be, but, there are still far too many kids that have not developed the skills necessary to deal with the technology. \u00a0 \u00a0It would also be a body blow to the publishers, \u00a0who make a huge profit off school textbooks. \u00a0 Finally, \u00a0it would take a level of competency to get the servers set up, \u00a0and running. \u00a0 This costs money, and, schools are perpetually low on funding.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If I could wave a magic wand and fix the problem, though, \u00a0I would go with the second option. \u00a0 Not only is technology likely to be a huge part of our society for well into the future, \u00a0 but, \u00a0there is such a flood of new information, and re-interpretations of old data happening that a printed textbook is close to being obsolete by the time it rolls off the press and into the warehouse..<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Pleasant Dreams<\/div>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bee Man Dave.<\/div>\n - The issue of Creationism versus Evolution has been a hot button for decades. \u00a0\u00a0THIS ARTICLE<\/a>\u00a0 discusses the changes demanded by Texas.<\/li>\n