Groups upset over science textbooks

More than a dozen people lined up in front of the State Board of Education on Thursday to criticize the proposed science textbooks that board members are considering adopting.

“I didn’t find any of these textbooks that weren’t replete with errors of fact, errors of omission and even some pretty overt bias aimed at directing students to take political actions,” said Duggan Flanakin, with the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Flanakin highlighted what he said were errors in middle-school science books, such as vastly different amounts of destroyed rain forest acres in books by three different publishers.

It is not unusual for there to be criticism of the content of textbooks, particularly science books. In past years, complaints ranged from typographical or factual errors to differences of philosophy.

This year, some are objecting to what they say are omissions of scientific information, gender bias and inaccuracies. Some critics suggested the books more closely resemble political science books than science books.

For instance, one person testified that one book encouraged students to write letters to organizations such as the Save The Whales group. Another person said students were encouraged to write to their congressional representatives to express dissatisfaction on certain issues.

The conservative group, Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy, said many of the middle-school science texts are biased in the presentation of issues such as global warming, endangered species and land management.

The group claims one eighth-grade textbook “uses data to frighten students about global warming and to motivate them into action.”

“Unfortunately, portions of the textbooks under review don’t teach sound science. In fact, they promote an environmental or political agenda,” said Peggy Venable, director of the group.

A few people suggested throwing the books in the trash.

“I think everyone has found the alternative fuel source that everyone is looking for and that is burning these,” said Michael Franks, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee.

Joe Bill Watkins, who represents the Association of American Publishers, said the books do not have political agendas.

“Publishers are in the business of meeting state requirements to sell books in the marketplace,” Watkins said. “They all know any strong bias one way or the other won’t sell.”

Watkins said the industry is open to suggestions but wants adequate time to respond to complaints or fix factual errors.

The board had to vote Thursday to allow the participants to testify because some 86 who requested to testify missed the signup deadline.

The education board, which could order publishers to revise texts, has required people who want to speak about textbook adoption to register before the meeting since 1999, said Debbie Graves-Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.

The notice was posted on the agency’s Web site, she said.

The deadline rules “were not designed to stifle public opinion. They’re designed to create a fair process,” Watkins said.

Approving the purchase of textbooks is one of the elected board’s main duties.

Texas will spend $640 million over the next two years on textbooks. The Texas market is one of the country’s largest and trends are closely watched because publishing firms sell textbooks adopted in Texas to dozens of other states.

On the Net:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/Textbooks/