Social conservatives, foes clash over schoolbooks

AUSTIN – The annual wrangling over textbook selection in Texas got off to an early start Tuesday as competing groups clashed over efforts to revise proposed social studies books for public schools.

The Texas Freedom Network, a political watchdog organization that battles with socially conservative groups, launched a campaign to thwart what it called textbook censorship by those groups.

At the same time, the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation gave poor marks to several proposed social studies books and called on publishers to make changes before they come up for adoption by the State Board of Education this fall.

Texas will spend nearly $ 345 million on social studies and other textbooks to be used beginning in the fall of 2003.

“For too many years, a small but vocal group of people has successfully insisted that school districts and kids have access only to books that this group has purged of information they disagree with or just plain don’t like,” said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the Texas Freedom Network.

“We are launching a campaign to give voice to thousands of fair-minded parents, community activists and religious leaders who say, ‘I object,'” she said. “We’ve had enough censorship.”

Ms. Smoot cited the state board’s rejection of an environmental science book last fall after board members said it exaggerated the problem of global warming and air pollution in major cities. They also objected to the book’s assertion that President Bush’s energy plan would open up much of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Those criticisms were initially raised by groups such as the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a group founded by San Antonio millionaire James Leininger, a past contributor to socially conservative candidates for the state board.

Tuesday, the foundation unveiled its review of social studies books this year, saying that none of the books rated “excellent” and that they contained numerous factual errors. In all, the foundation said it identified at least 533 factual errors that will be presented to the State Board of Education.

“TPPF is not, and will not, call for the rejection of any textbook, but we hope publishers will want to ensure their textbooks meet the highest standards” by correcting errors, said Chris Patterson, director of education research for the group.

“We have not, and will not, ask for content to be removed. Rather, we want content added to ensure that every topic is treated fairly and presented accurately.”

Another conservative group, Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy, ripped into the Texas Freedom Network for what it said was an effort to silence those who want to participate in the textbook review process.

“It’s time for the Texas Freedom Network to recognize the only censorship under way is their futile fight to keep citizens from reviewing textbooks,” said Peggy Venable, director of the group. “We just want to get history accurately presented to our schoolchildren.”

Ms. Smoot said the Texas Freedom Network is leading its “I Object” campaign to counter the growing influence of social conservatives in textbook selection. As part of the campaign, they will seek meetings with publishers and deliver messages from citizens to the State Board of Education.

The first public hearing on new textbooks is scheduled for July 17 in Austin. Other hearings will be in August and September. The board is expected to adopt its list of recommended books in November.

Textbook decisions in Texas reverberate because the state is one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, second only to California. Publishers whose books are adopted in Texas generally market them in dozens of other states.

E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com