Social Studies

Sure, FOX News will tell you this was a brilliant triumph for The Faction. The other news outlets will all agree. But I maintain there's a number of missing (and larger) stories here, that should provide a glimmer of hope to those who feel grumpy about last week...

Final adoption of high school social studies, as amended is proposed. Mary Helen Berlanga objects to the whole process of 300+ amendments and such piece-mealing. "In my 27 years on this board, I've never seen anything like this." A lengthy speech follows on the failure to come to terms with the past of discrimination by everyone from the Klan to the Texas Rangers, none of which are mentioned in the history books.

2:10 pm
World Geography amendments from Pat Hardy:
11b) "identify the factors affecting the location of different types of economic activiites, including subsistence and commercial agriculture, manufacturing and service industries," passes without objection
16a) return to original wording, no objections
16b) no objection to going to revising definition of culture
21b) "analyze and evaluate the validity and utility of multiple sources of geographic information, such as primary and secondary sources, aerial photographs, and maps..." no objection
strike 21c); no objection

11:05 am Time to continue with Amendments to high school social studies

Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) strikes "and MesoAmerican civilization" in World History, because it is now in another section.

9:15 am Hurst-Euless-Bedford's Trinity High School Show Choir led off with a performance a la the TV show "Glee" of "The Lullaby of Broadway" and other tunes. Too bad they can't inspire the Board to work together as in "The Music Man," in which barbershop singing inspires a fractious local school board to work together...

The circus is back in Austin. The State Board of Education is meeting to finalize social studies standards. The controversy rages (or doesn't) depending upon your point of view...

Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) asks the Board to consider letting the TEKS panels re-convene to discuss with the Board's experts the proposed changes to the TEKS. Mavis Knight (D-Dallas) also supports it. The faction lines up against re-convening them because "they've done their work, let's thank them and let them move on." They also expect frustration that they won't have time to re-review their work in time for a Board meeting. "If we think the TEKS need work, we can amend them ourselves."

The opening salvos of the 2010 election campaign were being fired loud and clear in yesterday's State Board of Education meeting, especially when Social Studies came up late--I had to leave before they started, and will review the public testimony later and add commentary to this space this weekend. But all the usual conservative suspects were there, from Texans for Prosperity to the Free Market Foundation to the Texas Eagle Forum, so it's not too hard to imagine what they had to say...

1:40 pm Board is back after lunch break. On a 12-item agenda, they've finally wrapped up item 4 and are ready for item 5--repealing old TEKS that were replaced by newly approved TEKS.

One of my personal favorite topics is arts in education. Or, more specifically, arts AS education. My first encounter with someone utilizing the arts as a way to promote the "core subjects" was when I met a graduate student at NYU. She was writing her thesis on black holes and how their construction was inherently linked to waves which we hear as sound waves. Specifically, she was studying physics and music. Together.