Fuck Yeah! Education (pt. 2)!

[navkat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8693397.stm

Tempers are flaring in Texas over controversial proposed changes to the US state's public school curriculum.

The changes, put forward by the Board of Education's conservative members, include referring to the slave trade as the "Atlantic triangular trade".

Critics say the changes are ideological and distort history, but proponents argue they are correcting a long-standing liberal bias in education.

The conservatives are expected to prevail in Friday's final vote.

The changes eliciting the most concern include diminishing the role Thomas Jefferson - principal author of the Declaration of Independence - in history courses because of his belief in the separation of church and state, and dropping references to a landmark court case that barred schools from segregating Mexican American students.

The amendments also cast the United Nations in a critical light, with students asked to evaluate whether the UN and its committees undermine US sovereignty - a common refrain for conservative Americans.

The new curriculum would emphasise the role of religion in America's founding, as well as promoting the superiority of the capitalist system.

The Board insists, though, that capitalism will only be referred to as "free enterprise system", largely because of the negative connotations of the word capitalism.

[Elder Iptuous]

hey, there you are!

[Requia ☣]

Er, am I missing something?  Wasn't the slave trade always referred to that way, in order to hammer home the role the north played in that trade?  Or is that a Utah thing and we were just ahead of the curve in fundy crazy when I was a kid.


The rest is... wtf?  There are reasons why capitalism has negative connotations dipshits.

[navkat]

Hi hi.

I love/hate this place. Can't stick around, can't stay away. <3.

[navkat]

Er, am I missing something?  Wasn't the slave trade always referred to that way, in order to hammer home the role the north played in that trade?  Or is that a Utah thing and we were just ahead of the curve in fundy crazy when I was a kid.


The rest is... wtf?  There are reasons why capitalism has negative connotations dipshits.

The point is: we know better now.... or at least we should.

[Juana]

Old news is old.

But yeah, even my Republican grandparents from Texas think this is ridiculous.

Er, am I missing something?  Wasn't the slave trade always referred to that way, in order to hammer home the role the north played in that trade?  Or is that a Utah thing and we were just ahead of the curve in fundy crazy when I was a kid.

I think we called it the Atlantic slave trade, here in California. So your state must have been ahead of the curve, yeah.

[navkat]

Old news is old.

But yeah, even my Republican grandparents from Texas think this is ridiculous.

I'm not worried about people like your grandparents, I'm worried about that mass hysteria phenomenon that usually manages to let these things crowd surf allllll the way to the main stage without any single member of the crowd feeling like they delivered it there.

Of course; I live in the state where a Gubernatorial candidate actually took the lead in the polls on the "We speak ENGLISH in my state, muthafucka!" platform.

[Juana]

Old news is old.

But yeah, even my Republican grandparents from Texas think this is ridiculous.

I'm not worried about people like your grandparents, I'm worried about that mass hysteria phenomenon that usually manages to let these things crowd surf allllll the way to the main stage without any single member of the crowd feeling like they delivered it there.

Of course; I live in the state where a Gubernatorial candidate actually took the lead in the polls on the "We speak ENGLISH in my state, muthafucka!" platform.

Those people are like my grandparents, usually - this is the ONE issue that I've heard my grandmother make sense on anything, ever.

[Iason Ouabache]

The semi good news is that Texas doesn't have enough money to buy new textbooks. They are stuck with the old ones until at least 2013 or 14.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/DN-textbook_19tex.ART.State.Edition1.49ada5e.html

Students will have to hang on to old science books for a year or two longer because of the state's budget crunch.

State Board of Education members Tuesday reluctantly decided to postpone action on new science books for schools, a move that will temporarily save up to $500 million.

Board members will still seek money from the Legislature next year for new English and reading textbooks – totaling $495 million – and $393 million for continuing contracts for educational materials.

But board Chairwoman Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, said there is virtually no chance that lawmakers will come up with the additional $500 million for science books when they are facing a revenue shortfall of as much as $18 billion in the next two-year budget...

The books would have been delivered to Texas schools in two years. Instead, the new textbooks now will probably not be available until 2013 or 2014 – meaning the current books adopted several years ago will have to suffice until then...

Things are not likely to get any easier in the future, either: Education officials had originally hoped to purchase nearly $800 million worth of new social studies books for the 2013-14 school year. The delay in buying science books will almost certainly push back the purchase of the social studies materials.

[Jasper]

Ahahahah.

The textbooks are getting shittier, but that's okay.  We can't even afford them.

That's beautiful.

[navkat]

The semi good news is that Texas doesn't have enough money to buy new textbooks. They are stuck with the old ones until at least 2013 or 14.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/DN-textbook_19tex.ART.State.Edition1.49ada5e.html

Students will have to hang on to old science books for a year or two longer because of the state's budget crunch.

State Board of Education members Tuesday reluctantly decided to postpone action on new science books for schools, a move that will temporarily save up to $500 million.

Board members will still seek money from the Legislature next year for new English and reading textbooks – totaling $495 million – and $393 million for continuing contracts for educational materials.

But board Chairwoman Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, said there is virtually no chance that lawmakers will come up with the additional $500 million for science books when they are facing a revenue shortfall of as much as $18 billion in the next two-year budget...

The books would have been delivered to Texas schools in two years. Instead, the new textbooks now will probably not be available until 2013 or 2014 – meaning the current books adopted several years ago will have to suffice until then...

Things are not likely to get any easier in the future, either: Education officials had originally hoped to purchase nearly $800 million worth of new social studies books for the 2013-14 school year. The delay in buying science books will almost certainly push back the purchase of the social studies materials.

That is beautiful...like a perfect, well-formed turd floating in the morning coffee pot.

[East Coast Hustle]

I have nothing intelligent to contribute, I'm just posting ITT to say hi to navkat.

HI NAVKAT.

[navkat]

I have nothing intelligent to contribute, I'm just posting ITT to say hi to navkat.

HI NAVKAT.

Wooooooo!

*jiggle-jiggle*

[Jasper]

That is beautiful...like a perfect, well-formed turd floating in the morning coffee pot.

It doesn't have to be pretty to be pretty. 

[AFK]

The most hilarious part of the proposed changes by the Texas Board was the addition of Benjamin Franklin inventing the breakbeat.