Source: www.chron.com
AUSTIN, TEXAS, September 18, 2009: Christmas will stay in Texas textbooks, State Board of Education members said Thursday while reviewing early recommendations for new social studies standards. The board will not approve the new curriculum standards for public schools until next year, but wanted to assure constituents they will not accept a recommendation to yank Christmas. “We have heard quite significant feedback from parents, from people who are very disturbed that we are not going to continue keeping Christmas in our standards. No one on this board intends to take out Christmas,” said Gail Lowe, of Lampasas, chair of the 15-member board. The board met with consultants and educators appointed to develop new curriculum standards for textbooks covering history, government, sociology, economics and geography for the next decade.
The proposed standards suggest sixth-graders be expected to explain the significance of religious observances of major faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Experts recommended that public schools teach about Diwali, which is celebrated by Hindus, but drop mention of Christmas. Easter would remain. Board members also signaled their intent to restore Rosh Hashanah as an example of a Jewish observance, in addition to Yom Kippur.
According to an earlier report, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6622590.html:
The new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards will determine classroom instruction, textbooks, and tests for the next 10 years. The standards suggest teaching about Diwali, which is celebrated by some Buddhist sects [sic, this was later corrected to “by Hindus”] but to drop mentions of Christmas.
“We get more phone calls about that than anything that we’ve ever gotten phone calls about from people who have never called before,” said board member Don McLeroy. “I would be very much surprised if it’s not a 15-0 vote to keep Christmas and Rosh Hashanah,” board member Ken Mercer said.
Board-appointed “expert” and writing committees are developing the new social studies curriculum standards. They include six “expert reviewers” and 124 review committee members made up primarily of teachers. The credentials of at least two of the “expert reviewers” — David Barton, of Wallbuilders (http://www.wallbuilders.com/), and Peter Marshall, of Peter Marshall Ministries (http://petermarshallministries.com/) — have drawn criticism. Texas Citizens for Science President Steven Schafersman plans to object to the inclusion of Barton and Marshall in the review. “They are not qualified to be social science experts. A lot of their views are against church-state separation. They are against the establishment clause (of the First Amendment) and they are trying to push Christianity in the standards that they are recommending,” Schafersman said.
Another report, http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/stories/khou090917_mp_christmas-curriculum.18e4165bb.html, is headlined, “Christmas replaced with Diwali in proposed social studies curriculum.”
[HPI note: This is an unfortunate headline, as Diwali was recommended so as to include Hinduism, not to displace any other religion. ]
The report says in part:
A proposal for new social studies curriculum in Texas public schools removes a mention of Christmas in a sixth-grade lesson, replacing it with a Hindu religious festival, a change that has riled conservatives who say it’s another battle in the “war” against the Christian holiday. “It’s outrageous that the war on Christmas continues in our state and in our nation,” said Jonathan Saenz, a lobbyist for the conservative Free Market Foundation.