Social Studies Revisited

　DALLAS—The Texas Board of Education is poised to enact a new social-studies curriculum that portrays America as a nation rooted in Biblical values and promotes the virtues of low taxes, limited regulation and free enterprise.

Those standards have provoked heated debate in the state similar to the one that broke out last year when the board overhauled the science curriculum.

Liberal critics have complained, among other things, that the standards excuse the excesses of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusades; minimize the contributions of ethnic minorities; and give too much weight to Confederacy leader Jefferson Davis's view that the Civil War was about states' rights, not slavery.

But conservatives say they're only trying to restore balance to a curriculum they believe has been skewed to the left for far too long. The Liberty Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group in Plano, Texas, is urging the board to stand strong against attempts by "the fringe left" to delay adoption of the new standards.

The standards, which the board is slated to bring to a vote on Thursday and Friday, will govern classroom instruction for all 4.7 million public-school students in the state. The standards also will influence what goes into textbooks when the state orders new ones, which is not expected for several years, especially in light of the state's budget woes.

Feelings are running strong on both sides of the debate; more than 20,000 comments have flooded into the Board of Education in recent months.

The standards don't provide a day-by-day curriculum for teachers but do set out, in voluminous detail, the concepts, names and dates students are expected to master. Standardized tests and textbooks draw on these guidelines, so they carry considerable weight in the classroom.

Debate about certain provisions has been intense. For instance, one revision would change what first-graders learn about their civic duty.

The previous standards, a decade old, defined good citizenship as "a belief in justice, truth, equality and responsibility for the common good." The new standards talk about respect for others, personal responsibility, and the importance of voting and of "holding public officials to their word."

Board member Don McLeroy, who leads the most conservative bloc on the board, said that "responsibility for the common good" does not belong in the standards because it is "a liberal notion" that edges toward communist philosophy.

"Most of the great tragedies in the world have been done in the name of humanitarian, utopian ideals," he said.

Students also are required to learn that America's founding documents were influenced by various intellectual traditions, "especially biblical law," and principles laid down by Moses.

The standards also emphasize the superiority of America's free-enterprise system. (The term "capitalism" is no longer being used because it has been tainted, board member Cynthia Dunbar said: "We've all heard the saying 'capitalist pig.'")

The standards reflect multiple views. For instance, they also say students must explain "how institutional racism is evident in American society." Economics students must "understand how government taxation and regulation can serve as restrictions to private enterprise."

Mavis Knight, who leads a smaller, more liberal faction on the board, said she was disturbed by what she sees as emphasis on American exceptionalism, which posits that the U.S. holds a unique role in shaping the world's destiny. "It seems like braggadocio to me, rather than trying to be factual," she said.

Other critics have included former Education Secretary Rod Paige, who served under George W. Bush. He has joined the NAACP to protest the standards on several grounds—including the board's decision to scratch hip-hop from a list of notable artistic trends. (It was replaced by country-western music.)

Additionally, more than 1,200 historians and college faculty members from across the nation have signed a petition calling the standards academically shoddy.

Historically, California and Texas have been the nation's largest textbook buyers, and requirements in their states influenced textbooks nationally. That has made Texas's standards influential beyond its borders.

But that has become less the case in recent years, as states and local school districts have become more aggressive about setting their own standards, and desktop publishing has made it easier to customize texts.

"It is a bit of an urban myth that the Texas standards will influence curriculum nationwide," said Jay Diskey, executive director of the school division at the Association of American Publishers. The industry has generally declined to comment on the standards-revision process.

The standards are expected to pass, though several amendments remain under debate. Among them: Dr. McLeroy's proposal that students study the United Nations and other international groups to "evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty."

The voting comes amid transition for the board. Dr. McLeroy, a dentist, lost his re-election bid this spring. Ms. Dunbar did not run for re-election and her chosen successor also lost in the primary.

The entire 15-member board is up for election in 2012.