# Texas textbooks: another setback in the war on ignorance. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506 "2004-11-07T16:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/1 "2004-11-07T16:50:09Z")
[According to this Reuters story,](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&e=8&u=/nm/20041106/hl_nm/health_texas_textbooks_dc) > [@](#): > > Texas education officials on Friday approved health textbooks for high school students that extol the virtues of sexual abstinence but only make passing mention of contraceptives… > > The 15-member Texas Board of Education approved four books, all of which promote a birth control program based on abstinence. Three make no mention of contraceptives, while one makes passing references to condoms… And this little gem: > [@](#): > > State regulations require information on contraceptives to be included in the sexual education curriculum, but board members said the books meet state standards because contraceptives are mentioned in separate supplements **or in the teacher’s edition**. (bolding mine) In the fucking _teacher’s edition_??!! All I can figure is that this is a disguised Republican breeding program. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/2 "2004-11-07T17:21:52Z")
Texas is [also taking steps](http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/11/05/textbooks.marriage.ap/index.html) to ensure that whenever marriage is mentioned in the state’s health textbooks, it’s clear that “a man and a woman” are involved. (The article implies that Texas law isn’t having any of this “civil unions” stuff either.) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/3 "2004-11-07T17:25:11Z")
Personally, I would chalk this up to regional differences and say “let Texas take care of Texas”… Except that Texas pretty much determines what textbooks the rest of the country gets to buy due to the volume of their orders. The textbook publishers are so cowed by this state because they apparently order more textbooks than any other state in the union, so they have to tailor the standard textbooks to Texas’s obnoxious morality-before-science viewpoint and nobody can buy a decent textbook because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/4 "2004-11-07T17:32:46Z")
Well I don’t know if that’s worse that the raving mad PC stuff I read they’re doing in California. [http://www.powells.com/review/2004\_10\_03.html](http://www.powells.com/review/2004_10_03.html) > [@](#): > > Anything that could be categorized as disability bias, regional bias, or ethnic bias was immediately flagged. Any word using the term “man” (man-made, manpower, mankind, salesman), and any images of men, women or minorities engaged in allegedly stereotypical activities (women sewing, white men practising medicine, African Americans doing athletics, Asian Americans studying) were judged to be stereotypical and therefore unacceptable. Any passages that were situated in particularized locales (rustic environments or urban ones, for example) were said to be discriminatory against those who had no experience with these environments. By the same token, references to religion, to parental discord, to disrespectful children, and to evolution were also judged to be out of bounds. Conservative interest groups had learned from liberal ones to exert their influence. In short, the textbook and testing guidelines were wary of anything that might raise an eyebrow – whether it was the brow of a maiden aunt or of a committed anarchist. The goal was to satisfy everyone. This meant not only censoring and bowdlerizing what might be offensive but also cramming in as much innocuous material as possible so as to give every interest group its due. Caught between California PC in excess and a Texan rod of iron permanently stuck up the ass, it seems you’ve got your children between a rock and a hard place. I’ll have to look into my children’s school books to see if the idiocy is contagious. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/5 "2004-11-07T17:35:27Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Texas is [also taking steps](http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/11/05/textbooks.marriage.ap/index.html) to ensure that whenever marriage is mentioned in the state’s health textbooks, it’s clear that “a man and a woman” are involved. (The article implies that Texas law isn’t having any of this “civil unions” stuff either.) Perhaps we could find reference to gay marriages in the “disease” section of the Texas “health” texts. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/6 "2004-11-07T17:36:56Z")
It all just proves there is enough stupidity to go around, no matter where you live or what group/leaning you claim. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/7 "2004-11-07T17:38:02Z")
> [@](#): > > By the same token, references to…evolution were also judged to be out of bounds. Ah, the issue that unites us all, red states and blue states alike! Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/8 "2004-11-07T17:42:22Z")
Personally, I am skeptical about this whole gravity thing, as it impairs our ability to rise to meet our Lord. I believe gravity is imposed by Satan to keep us from Jesus and I’m certain millions more feel the same. Where’s my paragraph? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/9 "2004-11-07T17:42:25Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Well I don’t know if that’s worse that the raving mad PC stuff I read they’re doing in California. I see nothing in your linked book review indicating that the quoted examples were from California. Please post the portion that indicates this. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/10 "2004-11-07T17:45:50Z")
**Rune:** _Well I don’t know if that’s worse that the raving mad PC stuff I read they’re doing in California._ Actually, the textbook content guidelines described in your quote were samples of various “sensitivity and bias guidelines” used in public schools all across America. (Note the “un-Californian” slant of some of the conservative variants, such as forbidding references to evolution.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/11 "2004-11-07T17:51:32Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I see nothing in your linked book review indicating that the quoted examples were from California. Please post the portion that indicates this. Here is the relevant portion of text I found: > [@](#): > > …Almost two dozen states have state-wide textbook adoption policies, and two of these states, Texas and California, are so large that they represent a substantial portion of the market. Textbook publishers are therefore in thrall to these states. California has strong liberal lobbies, devoted to the idea that no cultural group be discriminated against with regard to language and imagery. Texas is dominated by conservative lobbies that concentrate on moral content. The combination produces textbooks that are severely curtailed in both directions: at once attuned to political correctness and deferential to so-called family values. The state adoption policies of Texas and California mean huge contracts for the companies that can satisfy these states. Smaller publishers cannot compete, and other states and local school systems (where there is no state-mandated textbook policy), generally end up adopting what has been developed for Texas and California for reasons of convenience and cost. > > Almost two dozen states have state-wide textbook adoption policies, and two of these states, Texas and California, are so large that they represent a substantial portion of the market. Textbook publishers are therefore in thrall to these states. California has strong liberal lobbies, devoted to the idea that no cultural group be discriminated against with regard to language and imagery. Texas is dominated by conservative lobbies that concentrate on moral content. The combination produces textbooks that are severely curtailed in both directions: at once attuned to political correctness and deferential to so-called family values. The state adoption policies of Texas and California mean huge contracts for the companies that can satisfy these states. Smaller publishers cannot compete, and other states and local school systems (where there is no state-mandated textbook policy), generally end up adopting what has been developed for Texas and California for reasons of convenience and cost… ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/12 "2004-11-07T17:58:10Z")
Speaking as a teacher… and as a Texan: Near as I can tell, Republicans want more stupid people to be born every year. Given the results of the last election, I think I can see why, too. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/13 "2004-11-07T18:18:34Z")
I attended high school in Texas in the mid-80s. Health was almost a throwaway class; it was what the football coaches taught. It was devoted to consumer education, drug-abuse education, and, on a limited basis, STDs including AIDS and mental-health issues. It seemed to be more about scaring us into not using drugs or having sex because of all the bad, scary things that might happen. There was also a LOT of moralizing about STDs; my teacher said something like “I personally believe that AIDS is God’s punishment on gays for unnatural acts.” At the time, HIV was beginning to enter the heterosexual population. The problem was that my HS was notorious for having significant drug abuse and teen suicide problems. In trying to avoid controversy and PR problems, they tried to ignore a problem that everyone knew about anyway, and instead of educating kids with facts, they tried to sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn’t exist and fed us a bunch of bullshit in the process. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/14 "2004-11-07T18:24:01Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > Here is the relevant portion of text I found: But that text doesn’t say that the specific things of which California is being accused actually happened in California. It may be a logical inference but that’s not what the plain text says. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/15 "2004-11-07T18:27:47Z")
Perhaps it is time to eliminate so-called public schools. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/16 "2004-11-07T18:38:04Z")
In the libertarian plan to eliminate public schools, how do poor people get educated? Honest question. My “favorite” part of the Texas textbook thing is that books that refer to “individuals who marry” are not allowed, because this “stealth terminology” undermines the basic Texan belief that marriage is one man and one woman. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/17 "2004-11-07T18:38:31Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Perhaps it is time to eliminate so-called public schools. **Lib** , the sentient giant squids called. They said give it a rest in completely unrelated threads. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/18 "2004-11-07T18:53:51Z")
> [@racinchikki](#): > > In the libertarian plan to eliminate public schools, how do poor people get educated? What - you never heard of street smarts? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/19 "2004-11-07T18:57:54Z")
> [@racinchikki](#): > > In the libertarian plan to eliminate public schools, how do poor people get educated? Honest question. They get a student loan before entering kindergarten and pay it back when they get a job. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506/20 "2004-11-07T19:55:01Z")
> [@racinchikki](#): > > In the libertarian plan to eliminate public schools, how do poor people get educated? Honest question. The same way that I, as a poor person did — read books. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-textbooks-another-setback-in-the-war-on-ignorance/273506.md?page=2)