What's Capitalism?

Texas' Distortion of History

The Austin American Statesman’s Editorial Board published an article speaking out against the Texas State Board of Education’s decision to alter the way the subject of History is taught in Texas schools.  The target audience of this piece would seem to lean more towards a liberal ideology than those who keep a conservative view.

The Editorial Board claims that the Texas State Board of Education revised the curriculum with “evangelical zeal” and ignored any warnings about the decision they were making, resulting in a “hodgepodge of wishful thinking, distortion, exaggeration and fantasy dressed up as historical fact.” Texas students will not be taught about the Age of Enlightenment nor will they learn about capitalism.

The Editorial Board is clearly against the educational changes taking place and has evidence from the Fordham Institute, a “think tank devoted to education reform,” backing up the claims that this is a terrible decision.  The Fordham Institute reports that “Texas combines a rigidly thematic and theory-based social studies structure with a politicized distortion of history. The result of both is unwieldy and troubling, avoiding clear historical explanation while offering misrepresentations at every turn.” 

The article states that there is still hope for changing this decision and it is up to the new members of the board to protect the future of Texas students.

I am in agreement that it is a colossal mistake to change the way history is taught in Texas. There shouldn’t be a case such as this where the facts can be turned around and warped into something completely different. Future Texas students will only be hurt by this change and will receive “historical” stories rather than facts in their History courses.

Short $27 Billion? No Problem!

Texas Governor Offers Optimism on Budget Shortfall

Gov. Rick Perry announced in his annual address to the Legislature that Texas can overcome its tough budget choices by "setting priorities." Priorities, in his mind, apparently aren't Schools and Medicaid recipients, which are being targeted for cuts. 

 If the current budget cut plan continues, Schools in Texas will lose $10 Billion in resources and Medicaid payments will be cut by 10%. Mr. Perry is of the opinion that it is "irresponsible to use emergency funds on salaries and other recurring expenses."

His plan is to "reinvent the government" by consolidating, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Rural Affairs, and removing, the Historical Commission and the Commission on the Arts, state agencies.

Democrats, including Rep. Garnet F. Coleman, seem to believe that Mr. Perry is "unrealistic" and doesn't appear to have the capability to see that there are problems in Texas.

Some have speculated that Mr. Perry is interested in throwing his hat into the running for the Republican primaries and has his focus set on that rather than fixing the current budget problems in Texas.

If the current discussed cuts go through I think it would cause future issues across the board from Students to Nursing Homes to the many people that would lose their jobs. It's important to know the facts of the current budget issues in Texas, and not just what one source is stating. Reading the above article could influence citizens to find out more about the budget "crisis" and understand why it is such an important topic.