One School Two School, Red School Blue School
The news this week out of red Texas and blue California is a tale of priorities in regard to the education of our children.
In the left corner, we have this news item from the Modesto Bee. California, you see, was initially settled by Franciscan monks who built 21 missions from San Diego to San Francisco using the forced labor of the indigenous people. Then, the state-to-be was wrested from their control by Americans who took over the role of abusing the locals.
This depiction of California history has been untaught in the California curriculum in California’s public schools.
No longer.
Governor Newsom signed AB 1821, which will require elementary through high school education regarding the Mission and Gold Rush periods to include the treatment and perspectives of Native Americans. And as you can well imagine, the backlash was … well … non-existent. History may be written by the victors, but eventually, the truth will out.
In the right corner, we have a proposal to teach the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum to K-5 Texas children. Not a class in flower identification, this is an attempt to teach lessons from the Bible in a public school setting. This extends from a bill passed by the Texas Lege in 2023 (HB 1605) that turned the official Texas curriculum on its ear.
You can well imagine the angsty hearings that this new curriculum engendered. Eight hours of testimony by 150 speakers. Let’s see. Eight hours divided by 150 passionate speakers from both sides of the argument equals 3 minutes per speaker (rounding down). It was so much fun they’re doing it again next week.
California and Texas are two states separated by two states. And two idealogies.
I’m not worried. Here in Houston the ISD has about been depleted of teachers by Mike Miles on orders of Abbott. By the time this project makes it here, we should have a student teacher ratio of about 100:1 and absolutely nothing will be taught/learned.
1In the Michael Douglas movie, “The King of California” there is a scene where his grade school daughter constructs a model with an accurate portrayal of slaughtered indigenous people around (I believe) a Catholic mission. She horrifies her teacher. Hopefully now, students with projects that depict the authentic history of early California history will get a better grade.
2You know ol’ Ken P can hardly contain himself as he awaits the opportunity to defend the bible-based lesson plans in a very public courtroom. Since, to him, suing any and everyone has become his favored means of state policy making, this is a golden opportunity to burnish his tarnished halo. And the Fifth Circuit and the Supremes will undoubtedly relish the chance to demolish that unseemly part of the U.S. Constitution about the separation of church and state. State supported religion, anyone?
3A proposed Texas math “word problem:” There existed 6.2 million species of land animals in antediluvian times just as there are now. If Noah’s Ark had 51,000 cubic meters of cargo space, how many animals could he save from extinction per cubic meter? Recall that they came 2 by 2.
4So “Texas public schools could use teachings from the Bible in lessons”. I’ve got some favorites, e.g., the start of the Benjamite War (somewhere around Judges 19 for any of you unchurched heathens). Plus most of Ecclesiastes, which is a good cure for anyone feeling optimistic. I would not go for the low-hanging fruit of the conquest of Canaan with all the “kill everyone, except any juicy girl virgins”. That stuff would get the state legislature all hot and excited, which is probably dangerous.
I was in Texas public schools in the late 50s and 60s, a time when the old guard of unmarried Irish women was giving way to the new generation of liberal women. I learned that a teacher can subvert even the most rigidly conservative lesson plan. And I learned they really should not have to do so.
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