The Thomas Jefferson Movement

05/25/2016

In a stunning comeback, State Board of Education candidate Keven Ellis won a Republican primary runoff over Mary Lou Bruner, who drew national attention for objectionable social media posts.

05/25/2016

Tonight, the voters of SBOE DIstrict 9, rejected one of the craziest candidates ever to run for what might be the daffiest elected body in America.

Score one for the good guys.

http://tfn.org/2016-elections-this-years-extremist-candidate-for-the-texas-state-board-of-education/

The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has a regrettable — but reliable — history of mixing the culture wars with public education. And, it seems, almost every election cycle — eight of the 15 SBOE seats are up for election this year — at least one candidate promises to make things even worse. Th...

04/14/2015

13th April each year: Thomas Jefferson Day.

Thomas Jefferson Day celebrates the birthday of President Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826), who was the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-06.

Celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826), 3rd US President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

11/23/2014

By Associated Press, NOV. 22, 2014: AUSTIN, Tex. — Texas’ State Board of Education [Texas Education Agency] has approved new history textbooks, but only after defeating six and seeing a top publisher withdraw a seventh — capping months of outcry over lessons that some academics say exaggerate the influence of Moses in American democracy and negatively portray Muslims.

The board on Friday approved 89 books and classroom software packages that more than five million public school students will begin using next fall. But it took hours of sometimes testy discussion and left publishers scrambling to make hundreds of last-minute edits, some to no avail. A proposal to delay the vote to allow the board and general public to better check those changes was defeated. “I’m comfortable enough that these books have been reviewed by many, many people,” said Thomas Ratliff, a Republican and the board’s vice chairman. “They are not perfect. They never will be.”

The history, social studies and government textbooks were submitted for approval this summer, and academics and activists on the right and left criticized many of them. Some worried that the textbooks were too sympathetic to Islam or played down the achievements of President Ronald Reagan. Others said they overstated the importance of Moses to America’s founding fathers or trumpeted the free-market system too much.

Bitter ideological disputes over what is taught in Texas classrooms have for years attracted national attention. The new books follow the state academic curriculum adopted in 2010, when Republicans on the board approved standards including conservative-championed topics like Moses and his influence on systems of law. They said those would counter what they saw as liberal biases in classrooms.

Friday’s 10-to-5 vote, with all Republicans on the board supporting the books and Democrats opposing them, was the first of its kind since 2002. The books will be used for at least a decade. ...

Texas’ State Board of Education has approved new history textbooks, capping months of outcry over lessons that some academics say exaggerate the influence of Moses and negatively portray Muslims.

04/13/2014

Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2], 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and 3rd US President (1801–1809).

11/24/2013

November 22, 2013: the Texas State Board of Education [Texas Education Agency] cast a final vote approving Science textbooks based on established science and rejecting pressure to water down instruction on Human Evolution and Climate change. This is a big victory for science. This is a victory for you. Most importantly, this is a huge victory for Texas schoolchildren.

Help us celebrate this big for science!

11/24/2013

By Miranda Blue, Right Wing Watch, Friday, 11/22/2013: This afternoon, the Texas State Board of Education gave its final approval to a set of Biology textbooks that include scientifically sound teachings about evolution, rebuffing a campaign by creationists to include “biblical principles” in Science texts. However, the board delayed its approval of one of the books until a board of experts reviews the complaints of anti-evolutionists.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/texas-school-board-adopts-accurate-biology-books-rebuffing-last-ditch-campaign-creationists

11/22/2013: Texas State Board of Education gave its final approval to a set of biology textbooks that include scientifically sound teachings about evolution, rebuffing a campaign by creationists to include “biblical principles” in science texts.

09/16/2013

This year the Texas State Board of Education will approve new science instructional materials and textbooks that will be used in Texas classrooms for the next decade. For years, an anti-science faction of the board has had a single goal: pressuring publishers to include information denigrating the science of evolution and climate change in Texas classrooms. The 2013 science textbook adoption will be the final word on whether their decade-long campaign will be successful, or whether sound science will be taught in Texas classrooms.

Join the Rally or Sign Up to Testify
On Sept. 17, we will gather to tell the State Board of Education that we .

http://tfn.org/science

This year the Texas State Board of Education will approve new science instructional materials and textbooks that will be used in Texas classrooms for the next decade. For years, an anti-science faction of the board has had a single goal: pressuring publishers to include information denigrating the s...

02/05/2013

Watch Independent Lens | PBS - The Revisionaries
Independent Lens Season 14 Episode 7
First Aired: January 28, 2013

Description: Examining the debate over textbook standards among members of the Texas State Board of Education [Texas Education Agency], whose decisions on what and what not to include in textbooks wield major influence on publishers due to the state being one of the industry's biggest markets.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2325563509

Watch this film until February 27.