The Alamo
I was an eighth grade American History teacher to over two hundred kids in the early 1980’s. We didn’t have “class size” in our teaching contract, and our community was quickly going from rural to suburban. All those eighth graders needed history, and they were crammed, thirty-five to forty at a time, in my pie shaped classroom with heavy-duty “electric” curtains for walls.
We had the “standard” American History book, copyrighted in the late 1970’s. The civil rights movement did change some things in textbooks. There were a few more Black people mentioned beyond George Washington Carver and Booker T Washington. But, as usual, the textbook reflected the “values” of the current era. There were almost ten pages in our book about the Texas War of Independence. That chapter was all about the “freedom-loving” Americans rebelling against the Mexican Government led by General Santa Anna, who dared to try to control what the “Texicans” could do.
There was the glory of the Alamo, the last stand cemented in American legend by John Wayne’s movie. It featured the famous “line in the sand”; those who would stay and fight, and those who would abandon the mission and leave. The bedridden Jim Bowie yelled to be carried across on his cot. Then there was the glory of the final attack, where the Texicans went down fighting, Jim Bowie using his self-named knife to the last. And the final surprise Texican victory at San Jacinto a few weeks later, where the Mexican Army was “out-foxed”, caught asleep in their tents. The Texans waded out in the river, shooting the fleeing Mexican soldiers in the water.
Textbook Sales
In fact, the textbook had more pages on Texas than World War I, arguably a more important event on American and world history. And it wasn’t mentioned that the Texicans were rebelling because the revolutionary government of Mexico banned slavery. The Americans came to Texas to grow cotton; they needed slaves to get the job done.
It wasn’t until a Masters of Education class, that I learned why there was so much “Texas” in our textbook. The State of Texas bought a single book for every eighth grader. It was the biggest textbook sale a company could make. So a national American History text was written to appeal to that Texas Department of Education. Texas loomed large, because Texas was the “big money” in textbook sales. And we in the little Southwest Licking Local Schools in Ohio bought that book too.
Textbooks still exist today, though the “supplementary materials” now include websites and interactive games. But most schools still have use for the archaic tool of 1600’s education – books. And those books, like in the 1970’s, reflect the values of our current era.
Critical Race Theory
Texas and Florida, and several other states passed laws restricting what could be taught in classrooms. Ohio is considering such a bill, House Bill 616. These are the “Critical Race Theory” and “Don’t Say Gay” bills that we hear so much about. And once those bills are placed “in law”, they will require textbooks that reflect those values. And that’s the dirty little secret.
Texas still buys textbooks statewide. And while other states may allow some options in text selection, the new laws restrict what can be taught, and the textbook must reflect those restrictions. And it’s not just history texts. Math textbooks use real life examples, and try to be relevant. Now, “story problem” questions and examples try to reflect what’s in our kids environment.
In Florida there is only one publisher “acceptable” by Governor DeSantis’s administration for math books, kindergarten thru fifth grade. The Accelerated Learning Company of Houston, Texas, publishes the only math book that doesn’t violate DeSantis’s “Critical Race Theory” standards that were included in the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. So every school in Florida is required to buy from Accelerated Learning.
Cashing In
Meanwhile, the new Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, is pushing the same kind of legislation for his state. For those looking for conspiratorial connections: before he was Governor, Youngkin was the CEO of the Carlyle global investment group. And what is one of Carlyle’s big investments? They acquired Accelerated Learning in 2018.
The polarization of America grows worse, so that even what eighth graders learn in history class depends whether they live in a “Red” or “Blue” state. So keep one other factor in mind. There’s big money in education, and when states make “big” changes, like Ohio House Bill 616, there’s going to be big money spent to “revise” the educational standards.
Here in Ohio, one former member of the state legislature got $60 million in bribes from an energy company. And there’s still plenty of money “floating” around the State House. So, if HB616 passes, keep an eye on who gets all the new textbook money. That could be the next “dirty little secret”.
