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Parents, Legislators Revolt vs. Biased Textbooks

There is a pervasive left-wing bias in American education, both in classroom instruction as well as in the books assigned.

A member of the lower house of the New York State legislature has decided to tackle the problem in his state by introducing legislation mandating that instructional materials are free of bias. Assembly member Bill Curran, a Republican from Long Island, is sponsoring a bill,  A09057,  that would mandate state approval of teaching materials.

His proposed law notes:

“Unfortunately, over the last three decades, education has morphed into a progressive, socialist agenda that fails at every level to help our children and future leaders develop these important skills. In … textbooks found across America in states such as Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, references have been found showing bias toward pro-Islamic traditions, Anti-Semitism, Anti- Judeo Christian values and race. According to the Reading and Writing Project from Columbia University, there are too many textbooks around the country for all states to mandate and regulate what gets put into these textbooks.  Since there are biases in our textbooks, the tests’ students receive could have pro-Islamic bias and distorted American facts as well. It is our goal to appoint a committee to oversee the textbooks our children our receiving, as well as their education. A teacher should not bring in any “supplemental” reading/textbook material that “they” deem   appropriate without authorized consent of the textbook governing body’s written approval. This is a rising problem in our country, and we want to help create a bill that further prevents the bias within our textbooks.

“This legislation hopes to be a trailblazer and lead the way into the quest for nonpartisan improvement of education, serving all students equally, without discrimination or bias.”

The measure would create a State Textbook Commission, charged with the responsibility to review and prepare a list of standard editions of textbooks for approval by the State Education Department and then adopted by local boards for use in schools. It would prohibit teachers, principals and other instructional persons from using or permitting any supplemental textbooks or instructional materials without the consent of the Commission.

Anger over textbooks being used to foster a biased, usually negative view, of the U.S. has spread across the nation.  The use of a particularly warped view, Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States,” which presents a Marxist analysis of American History, as a preferred text has inspired widespread parental distress.

Writing for the History News Network, Daniel Flynn reports:
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“Through Zinn’s looking-glass, Maoist China, site of history’s bloodiest state-sponsored killings, becomes “the closest thing, in the long history of that ancient country, to a people’s government, independent of outside control.” The authoritarian Nicaraguan Sandinistas were “welcomed” by their own people, while the opposition Contras, who backed the candidate that triumphed when free elections were finally held, were a “terrorist group” that “seemed to have no popular support inside Nicaragua.” Castro’s Cuba, readers learn, “had no bloody record of suppression.”

Along with an anti-U.S. bias, there has been a disturbing trend towards anti-Semitism in textbooks. WND and Breitbart have reported instances of this problem in a variety of states.

Breitbart has reported “There is bias in the books … it’s coming from education progressives. According to Dr. Sandra Alfonsi, expert on accuracy and unbiased textbooks…”  Examples of bias included passages that claimed “Cuba had economic freedom, and that the Bible was full of “stories” while the Koran was the “word of God.” In a review of the 9/11/01 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,  the terrorists were not identified as Muslims or Islamic Jihadists.”

WND noted that in 2014, A Tennessee group that combats anti-Semitism asked the governor to investigate school textbooks not only because of instances of anti-Semitism but also hundreds of inaccuracies, biases and disinformation, including anti-American and anti-Christian content.

The group stated that “The texts are in direct violation of the U.S. and Tennessee Constitutions by ‘teaching the religious dogmas of one religion,’ Islam, charged Laurie Cardoza-Moore.

A Project Veritas  video shows a former textbook company executive making statements such as “The dead white guys did not create this country,” “Damn the Second Amendment.”

Texas has also been a significant battleground in the fight against biased education. One widely criticized lesson plan in the Lone Star state equated the Boston Tea Party with modern day terrorism.