This blog is by Dave Mann the Texas Observers reporter who got stuck with the assignment of setting in a Texas State Board of Education meeting that turned into a 6 hour debate over the final version of science textbook standards and curriculum. Textbook companies who produce science textbooks will have to publish the results of this as content in their products which is used throughout the U.S. Also it sets the curriculum for the next decade on what will be taught in Texas in Science classes. This is interesting to me, as I worked for several years for a textbook publishing company. I worked with bids and contracts, having to meticulously make sure that every I was dotted just so because if it was not, the local level Board of Education’s would toss the bid out. I find it both extremely funny and quite sad that most of the proposed amendments to the standards were submitted hand written in the same format and neatness as my grocery list. I have had a bid thrown out because of an incorrect font yet proposals on the state level, that it takes 10 minutes just to decipher what the amendments were saying , are ok?
I think Mr. Mann does a good job of reporting what went on from a pro evolution leaning stand point. That the State Board had a year to hammer this out and was still debating topics as low level as word choice and handing in substantive amendments that were hand written is worrisome. His reporting -- though pro-evolution-leaning -- showed that even on the Education Boards level there need to be some cause for concern as it seemed throughout this meeting, that should have been more of a voting and signing party, it was a tedious “insert the word ‘all’ here” affair.
A Teachers View
The AP news story
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