So the Texas Board of Education may rewrite history textbooks... everywhere

[famousringo]

TheRealMafoo said:

famousringo said:
Shocking that the policies of one state could effectively become the policy of the whole nation.

So what happens if, say, New York or California decides push their own competing revisionist textbook standards? Seems to me that this could drive the red state/blue state wedge even deeper.

Texas is one of the only states that tell the school systems whats books they will use. So say, in Cali, 10 school systems could use 10 different history books. In Texas, they all will use one.

This means if you want to sell books in Texas (where the money is), you need to make a great history book (even if the content is slanted). When a major publishing house makes a top rate book, other states will be forced to buy that boo. Because while it has a few things in it that's less then perfect, it's still the best one around.

Hm, so Texas has effectively seized influence over textbook content which no other large state has bothered to exercise. And that might change if some other large state gets irate that Jefferson has been sidelined... or it might not.

It's funny how these things come about.

@ Kasz216

I applaud your optimism, but since many of the standards being presented in Texas are negative rather than positive, isn't presenting both sides impossible? I mean, it specifically calls for removing Nader and Perot, so they can't just talk more about the main parties, they have to slice out third party cadidates to satisfy Texas.