Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com
TEXAS, September 1, 2009: (HPI note: The Washington Post invited Aseem Shukla to offer a Hindu point of view on the curriculum revision now under way in Texas.)
Post introduction: “The Texas Board of Education, the nation’s second largest purchaser of public school textbooks, is revising its K-12 social studies curriculum and deciding how to characterize religion’s influence on American history. Three consultants have recommended emphasizing the roles of the Bible, Christianity and civic virtue of religion. As America’s children go back to school, how would you advise the Texas board? How should religion be taught in public schools?”
Assem’s article excerpt:
Texas follows California in the volume of textbook purchases, and the critical comment period for curriculum changes has commenced. It is a fascinating study into the psyche of a movement in its symbolic last throes that the three right-wing consultants push for a narrative that sings of a Christian America, very different from the reality that we all know. America is in the midst of change, and the version of our country they long for is nothing more than a sepia-toned, portrait of a bygone era.
For years, Hindu Americans have grown increasingly frustrated with a portrayal of their religion that is divorced from the reality of their daily practice. In fact, the Hindu American Foundation, of which I am a co-founder, prevailed in a lawsuit against the State Board of Education in California in 2007, when the state court found that the Board had acted illegally by adopting books through an underground process that specifically excluded Hindu Americans, while input from other faiths was accommodated. We learned firsthand of the rampant politicization, contrasting agendas and inherent political nepotism that infects the entire system. We also know now that grade school textbooks are written based on the curriculum and frameworks passed by the Board of Education, and change in textbooks begins at that level. Large publishing houses will follow these guidelines to ensure that their books are purchased and distributed.