AP Obit - Norma Gabler (Textbook Critic)

Norma Gabler, who spent much of the past 46 years fighting for accuracy in textbooks, has died in Phoenix at the age of 84.

Gabler and her husband, Mel, founded Educational Research Analysts, a nonprofit that describes itself as a conservation (sic) Christian organization.

They began their crusade against textbook errors in 1961 after finding mistakes in their son's textbooks. Mel Gabler died in 2004.

(A son) said his parents' work led to changes in the way textbooks were adopted. He said some publishers would submit their books to his parents before the approval process began so they could learn of any objections the Gablers might have.

Neal Frey, president of Educational Research Analysts, said the organization would continue.

The NEA and the education elites absolutely despised Mel and Norma Gabler. The Texas couple took it upon themselves to review every textbook planned for state of Texas schools and fact-check them for accuracy and editorialization. They gained a voice within state educational oversight when they objected that textbooks contained too many errors. Many books were rejected or re-edited thanks to their efforts.

Since Texas is a large state, a rejection by the Gablers soon led to textbooks being rejected in other states. So some publishers got smart and actually sent the Gablers their books before publication for pre-checking just to assure their approval.

A lot of our children are smarter today because the Gablers cared enough about education to see to it that the textbooks were accurate. It shows the power that one couple can have when they set about changing things.

I didn't know either of the two personally, only from what I've heard of them in news accounts. But I admire them greatly for their willingness to stand up to state committees and publishing companies, forcing them to give our children more accurate textbooks.

Well done, faithful servants.

I want to recall that 60 Minutes or some news magazine once did a story on them and the tone was essentially “how DARE those Christian busybodies decide what is fact and what isn’t!”

Mel and Norma basically called out some of the early indoctrination that played fast and loose with the truth. Fortunately, even though Texas was a Democrat-run state at the time, a good many Texas Democrats were also conservative and the Gablers were able to get a toehold in the review process before the liberals made everything politically correct. Somehow, I doubt a couple like the Gablers would get a forum if they were to started today because the Left has so insulated themselves from fact and truth and willfully destroy anyone who gets in their way. They’d have had the ACLU sue them out of existence.

Can you imagine if a couple today stood in the way of textbooks claiming global warming is proven fact, etc?

I’ve never tried. If you have kids, they obviously have textbooks they take home (at least that was true in my day) and I presume that’s how this all got started. If you aren’t a parent in the age-appropriate group, you might be able to get one from a school but you might be prepared for some quizzical looks from the administrators.

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