Tex-books

The public tug-of-war over revisions to social-studies textbooks used in Texas schools, a battle waged between conservatives and liberals on the state's board of education, is over for another ten years.

Left-leaners wanted to see diversity, racial balance, more attention to cherry-picked civil liberties in the curriculum -- status quo on progressive steroids. Right-wingers, citing a "liberal bias" brought on by a "secular onslaught," sought to rehabilitate capitalism, cast our nation's founding as based on Christian fundamentalism and present conservative principles in a more flattering light.

With Republicans outnumbering Democrats 2-to-1 on the board, it never was going to be much of a contest. And this is Texas, after all, so take the pulse and do the math -- the final vote was 10 to 5, predictably along party lines.

It's worth noting that during days of discussing the future of texts on economics, history and social studies, the state board consulted no economists, no historians and no sociologists. This was purely an ideological fight, characterized by the dominant conservative bloc as a high-stakes struggle against persecution by liberals.

That would explain a) why Faux News gave it such heavy coverage and b) why the proceedings produced these gems from victorious board members:

"I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state. I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution."

"Let's face it, capitalism does have a negative connotation -- y'know, 'capitalist pig!'"

"Sociology tends to blame society for everything."

"Somebody's gotta stand up to the experts."

Because the win went to the right, Texas textbooks will soft-peddle McCarthyism and highlight the Black Panthers. Say hello to the 1980s conservative movement led by Phyllis Schlafly and Newt Gingrich, and say goodbye to Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state."

And so on.

For a moment, let's set aside the victor-vanquished aspect of The Texas Textbook Wars and think critically about what really happened.

Clearly, both the liberal and conservative factions were obsessed with indoctrination over education, operating from neo-political absolutes instead of attending to the interests of the students they serve. Bound by their social, religious and economic agendas, they corrupted the process.

That process, no matter which side won, is guaranteed to produce more ideologues -- the last thing that Texas (or this country) needs.