And, Meanwhile, in More Texas
This actual ad appeared in the actual Marble Falls, Texas, newspaper.
And the guest speaker is a consultant to the State Board of Education. This must be a scary thought to Mississippi because they are the only state with a worse educational system than we have. So, that means they have to have a crazier woman there. But she is not taking out newspaper ads so they can’t find her.
If somebody goes tonight, please let us know. I’d love to hear about the lesson, “Hey, Kids, Let’s Make Communist Flags.” I’m so stupid that I didn’t know there was a Communist flag.
Thanks to Marge for the heads up.
I keep saying the only way to cure the level of stupid would be to make it immediately and excruciatingly painful.
1As uneducated as most people are about history, I doubt they know about or have read Marx or could explain the attributes of communism or Marxism. They might have heard their parents talk about comunes or seen Groucho Marx on the teevee machine. But, since it became state educational policy that we could only teach the Free Enterprise system, it’s doubtful they have had an opportunity to do comparisons of the different systems. Doesn’t stop them from having an opinion – informed or not.
2I really couldn’t believe that when I saw it. I can’t go to the meeting because it’s (1) one hour away and (2) I know I’d get so mad I’d make a fool of myself and besides, I don’t carry.
3Wow, sounds like something going on here in NashVegas at the Capitol – the TNLeg just passed “Keep you Gunz Handy EVERYWHERE” in both houses – surely the wimpy, whiny, Guv who cannot even make up his mind about Medicaid expansion will VETO IT.
4Oh Crap. It’s tonight & I already have plans.
I want to go & bring about 15 friends with cameras so we can take pictures & laugh at them like they are zoo animals.
Then I want to ask Mrs. Mac for her autograph just to see if she can write her own name.
Dang, I’m gonna miss all that fun.
5Maybe I’ll take up “communist flag making”. Could sell a lot of ’em at that shindig. Wow…..I know stupid doesn’t hurt, or those people would be in so much pain they wouldn’t be able to talk.
6Marble Falls? Maybe they should rename it “Falls”. I think they lost all their marbles.
7I’m a certified teacher. If I show up and say none of it is true, do you suppose they will let me pass the plate for donations?
8Tempting, but I’m too far away to attend, too. Love to know what the real topic is.
9I would love to see the worksheets, books, films, etc that the schools use to teach something like “Communism is Awesome.” And I’m trying to remember the derivation of that phrase, was it maybe a quote from Lenin, or Stalin?
10Actually, when I see stuff like this my first reaction is that somebody read an Onion article and BELIEVED it! Because, Gawd Majestic Mighty, *who is that stoopid*?!? I swear, if breathing were not autonomous, these people would forget how and smother themselves. Oh, wait – like that’s a bad thing?!
11I kinda like that 5:30 social hour thingy. Likker ’em up and they’ll be even more gullible for the trash they’ll be fed.
12@Rick, I believe the actual quote from Lenin, speaking to Marx, was “That is WICKED awesome, dude,” said while designing the communist flag.
13I see it is in Marble Falls.
Check to see if it is blessed by the Eagle Forum member and education expert, Payton Wolcott. ;-0.
14Since Ms. Mac claims to be a researcher and a “consultant” to the Texas State Board of Education, I just had to perform a bit of research on her. The only connection I could find with the SBOE was the November 15, 2012 meeting minutes of the SBOE Committee on Instruction:
https://juanitajean.com/2013/02/28/and-meanwhile-in-more-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-49058
Her name appears on page 3,, where as a member of the public she provided testimony on the CSCOPE Curriculum Management System. If that’s the “consultancy” to which she refers, isn’t her claim gilding the lily just a bit?
One more thing – if this meeting is a “call to arms,” shouldn’t those planning to attend be wearing body armor?
15Oops – correcting the link in my previous post:
http://search.tea.state.tx.us/search?access=p&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ud=1&client=default_frontend&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&site=default_collection&q=Jeanine%20McGregor
16Glyn says:
> I’m a certified teacher. If I show up and say none of
> it is true, do you suppose they will let me pass the
> plate for donations?
I think you should show up and loudly proclaim that you’re a certified teacher, and those things have no place in your classroom.
*Then* ask for donations.
17Oh, lord–I have family there. I’ll just have to hope they’re not among the crazies, but I’d hate to have to swear to that…
18There is no year noted on the ad. I read the ad before I read JJ’s comments, and figured it was from 1953 when the crazy was as rampant as now, but the percentage was lower.
19Thank you Sister Artemis, it’s all coming back to me now! It’s been quite a while since I took our nation’s publicly funded communist indoctrination classes. Back then they were called “Communism is Groovy,” due to the strong influence of that red hipster Nikita Khrushchev. But I remember our workbook prominently displayed the scene you described between Lenin & Marx with the caption, “Karl Marx, the Besty Ross of his nation’s flag.”
20You folks in Texas – don’t feel too bad. Remember it was just a few years ago that we Pennsylvanians had to admit that the Dover, PA school board was within our boarders..
21Where did they get those loony “topics” — is any of that for real or is it just the product of an overactive feverish imagination?
22River City Grill was my favorite restaurant on 281…I will never enter it again.
23I am so sorry … but this is absolutely terrifying … horrifying … I can’t believe that anything like this is actually going on in the USA … good God Almighty!!
24@Marcia, God abandoned us right about the time Rep. Steve Stockman was giving his victory speech last November.
25My first thought was “Onion” myself but I went on the link supplied by Umpty and “Mrs. Mac” appears to be for real, so…
26Wow. Really at a loss for words here. Is Marble Falls on the other side of the Looking Glass or am I?
Oh good grief. Interesting results from Google. 87 min. video on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/59484058.
She apparently has a Memorize Math Facts website.http://www.memorizemathfacts.com/about.asp
Lists a lot of awards and places she has taught at or consulted with. Seems a little “off” to me. You can get a feel for some of this stuff. She also provided this handout to the Texas Senate, not sure of the date. http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/commit/c530/handouts13/0131-JeanineMcGregor.pdf
Oh, by the way, a friend turned me on to this website. Is handy for keeping an eye on the lege crazies.
http://legiscan.com
Lindy aka Hippie in the Hollar.
27I used to live in MF. Folks would get all hot and bothered about “no prayer in school” (and of course like the saying goes ‘every time there’s a math test there’s prayer in school’); upset about cheerleader issues (mainly why didn’t my little darling make the squad); let’s get rid of the (fill in the sport, here) coach. But this is the first time I know of anyone has taken an interest in curriculum, not that many of the attendees will have read their children’s textbooks or looked over their recent class work.
28Someone who lives up there— please go and report to us tomorrow.
Article on CBS channel seven out of Odessa? http://www.cbs7.com/video/index.asp?vid=16892
This lady has an interesting footprint on the innerwebs.
Hippie in the Hollar
29All of those ridiculous lesson titles are taken verbatim from a Daily Caller column from last week, where the content, purpose and verbiage of some cherry-picked Cscope lessons were distorted. The titles in that ad are the catchy, shorthand misrepresentations the author of the op-ed MADE UP.
The gist of it all is that any lesson plans that foster non-judgemental thought and objective critical thinking while looking at religions, political ideologies or history are ridiculed and made to look as though they are actually promoting value systems that the knuckle-draggers would consider “anti-American.”
In actuality, the curriculum appears to bend over backwards NOT to force value judgements on the students, but rather encourages them to discuss the pros and cons of each, sans xenophobia or faux redenck patriotism.
GASP! The horror!
It’s red meat for the mouth-breathers, and they clearly took the bait.
http://news.yahoo.com/ten-shocking-things-huge-texas-curriculum-conglomerate-foisted-090648402.html
SUSANF: the “real topic” is at the bottom of the ad: “Donations Appreciated.”
30Lindy – daChipster – thanks for picking up the research baton! The more we learn about this dingbat and the groups she affiliates with, the worse it gets. It’s lies and distortions taken to the nth degree.
31We had a fevered letter to the editor here in Fredericksburg over C-Scope but not quite as loony toons as this ad. The school superintendent had to address the “controversy” at a school board meeting, where he pointed out C-Scope was a way for teachers to access lesson plans that were in keeping with what other teachers were using. No one is being forced to use them, and they certainly don’t include the crap that this Tea Party group has their pantyhose in a bunch over.
32Never underestimate the stupidity of crazy old white people in large groups.
33I’d love to attend one of her little tent revivals and during the open questions opine, “Excuse me, mam, but you seem to be a complete idiot that is incapable of doing simple research. It don’t take much in the way of credentials to be able to spew blather to the Texas lege, eh?”
34daChipster: Seems like they are insisting on being true to the Texas Republican Party Platform which would prohibit the teaching of “higher order critical thinking skills” because this might encourage children to question other things they have been taught. Looks as if we started doing that a long time ago. Lord (or somebody) help us.
35The Tea Party is alive and thriving in the Marble Falls/Kingsland area. My mom, a longtime resident of the area, keeps me alternating between hysterical laughter and being aghast with horror at the things her Tea Party friends believe. No shrinking violet, my mom refutes all the idiocy she hears. And every time she asks her friends where they got their information, it came from Fox News or email they got from “a friend who knows what is going on!.”
I love Kingsland, spent all my childhood summers and a good chunk of my weekends for the past 30 years there. But the way the Tea Party has taken hold of the area scares me. I must remember when I attend church with my mom there this weekend to put my polite smile in place for all the times I will be told how wrong I was to vote for Obama, against Perry; for supporting gay marriage; for caring about the environment–basically for thinking about things before acting.
36I’m a certified teacher too. I despise CScope but I think the hoopla is way over the top! Unfortunately, in my district, it is “strongly recommended” that we do use the lessons. We receive numerous Cscope walk-throughs by admin, district admin and education service center staff, to ensure we’re all on the “same page.” Of course, that means theyre checking to see that we’re using cscope.
There are numerous errors in both content and grammar in the lessons. The lessons are formatted in Times New Roman font with few graphics…woo hoo, real inspiring for my 2nd graders!
The lessons require substantial teacher expenditure to provide the necessary materials. They are also scripted lessons. My teaching team has much better lessons, but our hands are tied. I’m so tired of telling my kids to cross out the errors on the cscope worksheets. When we voiced our concerns a few years ago, we were told all materials have errors and we were afraid of change.
37I hope the River City Grille serves alcohol. Lots of alcohol.
38According to this article in The Highlander (holl country regional news), Mrs Mac is “award-winning.”
39http://www.highlandernews.com/news_article.php?category_id=2&article_id=4268
We know how that works. They print certificates and exchange them after they make up nonsense and scare the true believers with them. Thus, every nut gets an award.
Hill Country, that is. My late step-mom was from Marble Falls. I mss her, but that whole area has gotten real batty. I’m ok with no longer going there on a regular basis.
40My parents lived in Kerrville, but luckily were fairly apolitical. Their friends, though…Gawd almighty. I miss my parents every day, but I don’t miss the visits to Kerrville.
41“McGregor says she has researched the curriculum for 3 years. But she has never logged into the teacher’s side of the program once and has never seen the complete curriculum step by step first hand.”
42(From the link put up by @lindy.)
Well, but she’s a Certified Teacher and Educational Researcher (capitals are from “Mrs. Mac”) so she probably doesn’t need to do this……
I’m gleefully imagining someone like “Mrs. Mac” turning up at one of Barney Frank’s Town Hall meetings; he did not practice patience with nutcases and called them out even when the cameras were rolling. Man, I’m going to miss him.
I bet the Communits didn’t know there is a Communist flag.
43@SamIin Kyle & Corinne Sabo: Both of you delivered a dead-on hit to my funny bone!!!
44I’ll be sendin you two a bill..