‘Scary’: public-school textbooks the latest target as US book bans intensify
‘Scary’: public-school textbooks the latest target as US book bans intensify
A school district in Houston has voted to redact chapters on vaccines and climate change, and parents and educators are worried
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15589190
‘Scary’: public-school textbooks the latest target as US book bans intensify
I grew up in New York City. We heard a lot about Unions in our history classes, because most of our parents [and all the teachers] were in a Union. Figured that was the norm for the whole country, because what kid really thinks about how text books are chosen?
Recently heard from another poster that their books siad that Unions were useful in the past, but were bad now because they interfered with the global economy.
There might've been a sort of "Golden period" where Union membership dropped off and benefits and working conditions were still good, but the longer you go without protections the more ground you lose. The global economy statement is also laughable. Are teleconferenced teachers from China taking the American teachers jerbs?
If they wanna ban books so bad, how about attacking the college textbook scams.
I suppose it's a good thing nobody really reads the textbook. /s
This truly sucks, because it's cutting off a valid source of information, but given how prevalent the issue is on the internet and how kids have access at a younger age than these ghouls ever did, it's like trying to stop a river with a single stick.
Not every kid has equal access to internet or technology at home which is why keeping resources in schools is really important.
Personally I found that being responsible for a textbook for a whole semester helped me as well because I knew I had to take care of it, not lose it, and return it in good condition at the end of the semester which helped me grow more personally responsible.
A good point. It's why I will always be a proponent of books and libraries. Everyone deserves access to the wealth of information we've discovered as a species.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The wave of book bans sweeping the US, typically reserved for works of fiction deemed controversial, has hit textbooks used in public schools, marking the next step in Republicans’ war on education.
The board of trustees for the Cypress Fairbanks independent school district in Houston voted 6-1 earlier this month to redact certain chapters in science textbooks, including those about vaccines, human growth, diversity, and climate change.
Blasingame, who has served on the board since 2021, did not give a specific explanation for the decision, but said the subjects go beyond what the state requires to teach and creates “a perception that humans are bad”.
Education experts say the move could have far-reaching consequences, prompting similar decisions to omit information in other subjects, and public school districts across the country.
“To ban entire chapters of textbooks and withhold that information from students is not only unconstitutional, but it is taking away their access to real-life ideas that exist in this world,” said Laney Hawes, co-founder of the group.
Kasey Meehan of PEN America, the national non-profit organization committed to free expression, said school board members – who are often publicly elected and do not necessarily have an education background – are increasingly having an outsized influence on the instruction being delivered to students.
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