Poor Reporting by News Media: Thomas Jefferson vs. Texas Social Studies Standards
3.19.10 – Gail Lowe – It did not take long for reverberations from the Texas State Board of Education's preliminary vote on Social Studies requirements to spread across the country. And predictably, the media coverage was woefully inaccurate and blatantly distorted.
Poor Reporting by News Media: Thomas Jefferson vs. Texas Social Studies Standards
by Gail Lowe, Chair of Texas State Board of Education
3.19.10
It did not take long for reverberations from the Texas State Board of Education’s preliminary vote on Social Studies requirements to spread across the country. And predictably, the media coverage was woefully inaccurate and blatantly distorted.
The New York Times probably was not the first to report on the board’s deliberations, but it joined a host of prominent Texas news outlets that incorrectly claimed Thomas Jefferson had been dropped from the curriculum framework used in Texas public schools.
Apart from Thomas Jefferson, the only historical figure with more emphasis in the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills standards is George Washington. The State Board of Education expects students at the elementary-grade level, in middle school and again in high school to study these Founding Fathers and to be well-versed in their contributions to American history and government.
Thomas Jefferson is included along with John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Hale, the Sons of Liberty and George Washington as Founding Fathers and patriot heroes that Texas fifth-graders should study for their notable contributions during the Revolutionary period.
During Grade 8, in which the history of the United States from the early colonial period through Reconstruction is presented, the Social Studies TEKS framework requires students to explain the roles played by the following significant individuals: Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Galvez, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Haym Salomon, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine and George Washington.
The U.S. Government course required for high school graduation mandates that students “identify the contributions of the political philosophies of the Founding Fathers, including John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, George Mason, Roger Sherman and James Wilson on the development of the U.S. government.”
In addition, high school students must “identify significant individuals in the field of government and politics, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.”
To say the State Board of Education has excluded Thomas Jefferson from the curriculum framework is irresponsible and untruthful. Jefferson not only penned the words of the Declaration of Independence, served as the third President of the United States and was father of the University of Virginia, but his promotion of the ideals of states’ rights and a limited federal government have permeated our nation for centuries. No study of American history would be complete without his inclusion. That is why Thomas Jefferson warrants such strong emphasis in the TEKS standards the State Board of Education has approved.
A critical skill Texas students should develop as part of their education is the ability to analyze information from primary source documents. This should be a requirement for journalists, too. Many seem to have jumped to erroneous conclusions without even examining the actual curriculum standards. One can disagree ideologically with the State Board of Education, but the TEKS standards themselves should be the point of reference for objective, thorough reporting.
Gail Lowe (R-Lampasas) is chairman of the 15-member Texas State Board of Education.
Subscribe
Enter your email to subscribe to daily Education News!
Hot Topics
- California Education
- UK Education
- Charter Schools
- Education Technology
- Education Reform
- New York Education
- Teachers Unions
- C. M. Rubin
- UK Politics
- New York City Schools
- Cost of College
- Florida Education
- Obama Administration
- Los Angeles Schools
- School Funding
- Online Classes
- Julia Steiny
- Education Research
- New Jersey Education
- NCLB
- Early Childhood Education
- Parent Involvement
- Illinois Education
- The Global Search for Education
- College Admissions
- Washington DC Schools
- Tennessee Education
- Literacy
- School Choice
- School Budgets
- School Nutrition
- Pennsylvania Education
- STEM Education
- Education Funding
- Teacher Evaluations
- Standardized Testing
- Republican Party
- Student Debt
- Texas Education
- Bullying
- Value-Added Evaluations
- Online Education
- Michigan Education
- Indiana Education
- UK Higher Education
Career Index
Plan your career as an educator using our free online datacase of useful information.
View All
Comments
"9:45 – Here’s the amendment Dunbar changed: “explain the impact of Enlightenment ideas from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Jefferson on political revolutions from 1750 to the present.” Here’s Dunbar’s replacement standard, which passed: “explain the impact of the writings of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and Sir William Blackstone.” Not only does Dunbar’s amendment completely change the thrust of the standard. It also appalling drops one of the most influential political philosophers in American history — Thomas Jefferson.
"9:51 – Dunbar’s amendment striking Jefferson passed with the votes of the board’s far-right members and board member Geraldine “Tincy” Miller of Dallas."
"To say the State Board of Education has excluded Thomas Jefferson from the curriculum framework is irresponsible and untruthful."
To imply that the New York Times has made such a claim is, well…, questionable. No link to the New York Times (or anywhere else, for that matter) was given in the article, but a search turned up this reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html
The only reference to Jefferson in that article is as follows:
"Cynthia Dunbar … managed to cut Thomas Jefferson from a list of figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the late 18th century and 19th century, replacing him with St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and William Blackstone."
The article gives an extensive list of places from which Jefferson was *not* cut, but fails to address the one cut that was mentioned in the cited NY Times article.
Related (independent) commentary on the Jefferson issue can be found at: http://tfninsider.org/2010/03/19/dunbars-distorted-views-on-jefferson/
Many people cite the words and deeds of Thomas Jefferson related to the founding of the United States. Many historians have reported the influence the "Age of Enlightenment" philosophers had on Thomas Jefferson (and others). When the topic of study is the "Age of Enlightenment", it seems more important to identify and discuss philosophers having greatest influence on that age, as opposed to the many people influenced by it. Ms. Dunbar seemingly has the cart behind the horse — As it should be. She is due congratulations and the media is guilty of biased and incomplete reporting.
I note that Hobbes, Rousseau, and Voltaire are still on the list, even though they're all far more secularist heros of leftism than Jefferson. The NYT spin on this just doesn't hold up.
The term "far-right" says it all, Ted. How would you feel if a media source were to refer to Mary Helen Berlanga as "far left?"
Always consider the source …
Definitely agree about primary sources. With so much sketchy information on the Internet,it's critical.