Posted on 03/22/2010 9:13:53 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
(March 12) -- Widely regarded as one of the most important of all the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson received a demotion of sorts Friday thanks to the Texas Board of Education.
The board voted to enact new teaching standards for history and social studies that will alter which material gets included in school textbooks. It decided to drop Jefferson from a world history section devoted to great political thinkers.
According to Texas Freedom Network, a group that opposes many of the changes put in place by the Board of Education, the original curriculum asked students to "explain the impact of Enlightenment ideas from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Jefferson on political revolutions from 1750 to the present."
That emphasis did not sit well with board member Cynthia Dunbar, who, during Friday's meeting, explained the rationale for changing it. "The Enlightenment was not the only philosophy on which these revolutions were based," Dunbar said.
The new standard, passed at the meeting in a 10-5 vote, now reads, "Explain the impact of the writings of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and Sir William Blackstone."
By dropping mention of revolution, and substituting figures such as Aquinas and Calvin for Jefferson, Texas Freedom Network argues, the board had chosen to embrace religious teachings over those of Jefferson, the man who coined the phrase "separation between church and state."
According to USA Today, the board also voted to strike the word "democratic" from references to the U.S. form of government, replacing it with the term "constitutional republic." Texas textbooks will contain references to "laws of nature and nature's God" in passages that discuss major political ideas.
The board decided to use the words "free enterprise" when describing the U.S. economic system rather than words such as "capitalism," "capitalist" and "free market," which it deemed to have a negative connotation.
Serving 4.7 million students, Texas accounts for a large percentage of the textbook market, and the new standards may influence what is taught in the rest of the country.
*sigh* And they were doing so well too.
I thought this issue fell on its face, March 13th?
Ping of interest (Texas textbooks).
I looked and didn’t see this article posted.
I’d known about all the other changes (which I had welcomed), but not about the removal of Jefferson.
The United States of America: Born July 4, 1776
The United States of America: Died March 21, 2010
Cause of death: Pre-meditated homicide.
People were so happy about the addition of Aquinas and Calvin, but look who got dropped off to make room. Jefferson is far more important to the history of this country than either of them.
Seems more of a chronological issue.
Jefferson was a revolutionary and the question seemed aimed more at the pre-revolutionary thinkers that influenced revolutions.
If you want to talk about revolutionaries themselves, that’s a whole different question and Jefferson shouldn’t have been the only one included. Marx, Lenin, Robespierre, Adams, Mussolini, Paine, etc. all spring to mind.
I don’t know...Thomas Jefferson is a loss, but the rest of it looks pretty good to me. Changing the description of the US from ‘democratic’ to ‘constitutional republic’ is certainly a step in the right direction. Right? Including some relevant thought from our religious founders is important, is it not? And staying ahead of the progressive’s rhetoric game by changing the word ‘capitalism’ to ‘free enterprise’ is brilliant, in my view.
Title is misleading. It implies that Jefferson will not be taught at all, whereas he is only being dropped form a world history section. He will almost certainly be included in the American history section. Maybe they wanted to avoid repetition, or simply show who may have been an influence on men like Jefferson?
What is wrong with those changes? I like them! Jefferson was dropped but was replaced by those who preceded him and impacted his thought. That doesn’t mean that Jefferson and the founders won’t be discussed.
The changes are good!
Also keep in mind that these articles are being worded to make a huge impact when in reality, Jefferson has not been totally excluded from history - in many cases they have considered someone already being covered in a different grade level so they aren't repeating it. But doesn't it sound horrible to say Texas school children won't even know who Thomas Jefferson is?
The ash heap of history is too good for that dishonest and deluded fool...
Agreed, Thomas Jefferson was influenced by most of the other men. His writings and speeches combine some of their ideas. Jefferson then proceeded to become a major statesman in the United States. Original thought versus political leader? An interesting call to say the least.
Of course he is more important than the others in the history of the nation. However he, as he admitted, was not an original political thinker.
Let me guess...the replaced him with Kweisi Mfume?
I'm sure the editors and newswriters at USA Today can point out where in the Constituion the word "democratic" or "democracy" is used. Waiting... waiting.... oh heck, it's not in there, nore is any other form the word. "Republican" does appear in Art. IV, section 4.
Jefferson never meant that the State was not to be influenced by the church, but that the State could not control the church.
FACT CHECK: We did not remove Thomas Jefferson from the history books! Any paper who says so is lying.
Sat at 10:01pm
I grew up in TX and was educated there. Back then, much of the standard “America sucks” history was taught. I welcome these changes.
(Of course, the thing I loved about Texas education was the way they hammered home Texas pride. Texas history is very rich).
“Deep in the heart, of Texas”.
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