Don McLeroy, Special Contributer
Published: 7:58 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31, 2010
Over the past three years, the State Board of Education has bequeathed a precious legacy to Texas education. Strong academic standards in English, science and history are now in place that will improve academic achievement, prepare our children for the future and help develop well-informed citizens. However, the achievements of the board have gone widely unrecognized, unacknowledged, and underappreciated. It is time to set the record straight.
New English standards were adopted in May 2008. The previous standards were clearly inferior; many were vague and repetitive. The seventh and eighth grade standards were virtually identical with only three words difference! With the encouragement of individual English teachers, the board recognized the seriousness of the problem and initiated a major rewrite of the standards. It is noteworthy that the professional teacher organizations did not lobby for a major rewrite; in fact, they initially opposed it.
The new standards bring a renewed emphasis on grammar; mastery of proper grammar will unlock many doors for our children. The standards also focus instruction on serious literature and nonfiction instead of trivial stories. This will increase our children's broad general knowledge. Knowledge is one of the greatest gifts we can give to children; it is critically important for all our children, especially the disadvantaged.
These new English standards are probably the single greatest achievement of the board. They will bear fruit for decades to come.
New science standards were adopted in March 2009. Despite all the hysteria and fears of evolutionary dogmatists, there has not been one challenge to any of the new standards. The controversy over science standards was actually the result of an attempted hijacking of science for ideological purposes by evolutionists. Their agenda was much more about worldviews than biology. The standards reflect real science and challenge students to study some of evolution's most glaring weaknesses in explaining the fossil record and the complexity of the cell.
Board detractors still misrepresent the science standards. They should heed the warning of Richard Feynman, famed physicist, who in an important speech on scientific integrity stated "the idea is to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgment in one particular direction or another." Mission accomplished. Integrity restored.
New history standards were adopted in May 2010. They ensure that our children will learn what it means to be an American. Distinguished historian William B. Allen stated "the founding era and the founding fathers are not just a topic of instruction for us ... they are the meat we feed upon ... . Therefore, our task is not to ask whether we should regard the founders with tender care and understanding; our task is to find the means to do so." And in Texas, we are finding the means to do so. The new standards require students to be taught the founding documents, American Exceptionalism, and the national mottos of "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum."
One significant standard brings much needed clarity to the commonly misunderstood phrase "separation of church and state." Our children will learn that it is not in the Constitution and, ironically, how it undermines the very language our Constitution uses to guarantee us religious liberty. Historically, the Constitution codified for us what Christianity, through the "Great Awakening" fifty years earlier, had already given our country—the disestablishment of religion.
In other standards, the board restored the teaching of the role of religion in the foundation of our representative government, and highlighted the role of the free enterprise system in America's economic success. Our children will learn how the founders' ideas of limited government and personal responsibility make better people by rewarding hard work, diligence and competence.
Abraham Lincoln said "America is the last best hope of earth." In Texas, our children will know that fact and more importantly, why it is true.
This is the true legacy of the State Board of Education. As Texas children master the English language, study real science, and learn the principles that have shaped our country and economic system, Texas will continue to be a guiding light for our nation and the world.
Don McLeroy is a member and former chairman of the Texas State Board of Education.
Over the past three years, the State Board of Education has bequeathed a precious legacy to Texas education. Strong academic standards in English, science and history are now in place that will improve academic achievement, prepare our children for the future and help develop well-informed citizens. However, the achievements of the board have gone widely unrecognized, unacknowledged, and underappreciated. It is time to set the record straight.
New English standards were adopted in May 2008. The previous standards were clearly inferior; many were vague and repetitive. The seventh and eighth grade standards were virtually identical with only three words difference! With the encouragement of individual English teachers, the board recognized the seriousness of the problem and initiated a major rewrite of the standards. It is noteworthy that the professional teacher organizations did not lobby for a major rewrite; in fact, they initially opposed it.
The new standards bring a renewed emphasis on grammar; mastery of proper grammar will unlock many doors for our children. The standards also focus instruction on serious literature and nonfiction instead of trivial stories. This will increase our children's broad general knowledge. Knowledge is one of the greatest gifts we can give to children; it is critically important for all our children, especially the disadvantaged.
These new English standards are probably the single greatest achievement of the board. They will bear fruit for decades to come.
New science standards were adopted in March 2009. Despite all the hysteria and fears of evolutionary dogmatists, there has not been one challenge to any of the new standards. The controversy over science standards was actually the result of an attempted hijacking of science for ideological purposes by evolutionists. Their agenda was much more about worldviews than biology. The standards reflect real science and challenge students to study some of evolution's most glaring weaknesses in explaining the fossil record and the complexity of the cell.
Board detractors still misrepresent the science standards. They should heed the warning of Richard Feynman, famed physicist, who in an important speech on scientific integrity stated "the idea is to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgment in one particular direction or another." Mission accomplished. Integrity restored.
New history standards were adopted in May 2010. They ensure that our children will learn what it means to be an American. Distinguished historian William B. Allen stated "the founding era and the founding fathers are not just a topic of instruction for us ... they are the meat we feed upon ... . Therefore, our task is not to ask whether we should regard the founders with tender care and understanding; our task is to find the means to do so." And in Texas, we are finding the means to do so. The new standards require students to be taught the founding documents, American Exceptionalism, and the national mottos of "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum."
One significant standard brings much needed clarity to the commonly misunderstood phrase "separation of church and state." Our children will learn that it is not in the Constitution and, ironically, how it undermines the very language our Constitution uses to guarantee us religious liberty. Historically, the Constitution codified for us what Christianity, through the "Great Awakening" fifty years earlier, had already given our country—the disestablishment of religion.
In other standards, the board restored the teaching of the role of religion in the foundation of our representative government, and highlighted the role of the free enterprise system in America's economic success. Our children will learn how the founders' ideas of limited government and personal responsibility make better people by rewarding hard work, diligence and competence.
Abraham Lincoln said "America is the last best hope of earth." In Texas, our children will know that fact and more importantly, why it is true.
This is the true legacy of the State Board of Education. As Texas children master the English language, study real science, and learn the principles that have shaped our country and economic system, Texas will continue to be a guiding light for our nation and the world.
Don McLeroy is a member and former chairman of the Texas State Board of Education.
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