Posted on 04/08/2008 4:20:46 PM PDT by SmithL
Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded.
They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools.
Student Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for Inquiry, an Amherst, N.Y., think tank that promotes science and which has issued a scathing report about the textbook.
"I just realized from my own knowledge that some of this stuff in the book is just plain wrong," said LaClair, who is using the book as part of an AP government class at Kearny High School.
The textbook is designed for a college audience, but also is widely used in AP American government courses, said Richard Blake, a spokesman for the publisher, Houghton Mifflin
...Hansen has sent Houghton Mifflin a letter stating that the book's discussion on global warming contained "a large number of clearly erroneous statements" that give students "the mistaken impression that the scientific evidence of global warming is doubtful and uncertain."
The edition of the textbook published in 2005, which is in high school classrooms now, states that "science doesn't know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all."
A newer edition published late last year was changed to say, "Science doesn't know how bad the greenhouse effect is."
The authors kept a phrase stating that global warming is "enmeshed in scientific uncertainty."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I will accept the impartiality of this when we get a list of the "investigations" aobout schoolbooks being too liberal, pro-gay, pro-socialism, and pro-scare-of-the-month...
"Cela sonne trop français à prendre au sérieux."
That was about science, not about opinion.
A world of difference.
LOL!!!
I was only commenting on your comment of a student vs. published authors.
Read the entire article. This guy reminds of the pain in the arse thinks-he-knows-it-all type. There’s one in every class. Most students reactions to these guys - “Aw geez, not this s%%t again!”
THE KID IS A HAPLESS SHILL
In the case of global warming, I don't believe there is any clear cut consensus on the "facts", only who's "facts" you want to believe.
‘As a science professor I had once said; “Science is a game we play with God to find out what his rules are.”’
I do believe that’s one of the core beliefs of the order of St. Benedict. Science teacher at a Catholic school?
Yep.
-Traveler
Yep, it is cooling!
Meanwhile, factually accurate books by Howard Zinn sit in a dark corner, gathering dust.
This immediately made me think of “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by James Loewen, which deals with inaccuracy and omission in high school level history textbooks. One of his points is that textbook publishers water down historical controversies to prevent negative responses that could hurt their sales. I’d bet the heavily qualified language about global warming in the book has less to do with political bias on the part of its authors or publisher, and more to do with creating a wishy-washy textbook designed not to upset either side of the debate (but apparently failing to do so).
The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by philosopher and author Paul Kurtz. It brought together two organizations: the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal[1] (CSICOP) and the Council for Secular Humanism[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Inquiry
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