Help Prevent Political Interference with Curriculum Standards The Center for Inquiry needs your help supporting a House Resolution to end political meddling with public school curriculum standards. Earlier this year, Texas' Christian fundamentalist-dominated State Board of Education mandated a bizarrely warped US history curriculum for Texas school children. Because of Texas' enormous influence on the nation's textbook market, the Board's actions affect non-Texan students as well. In March the board included a plank directing students to learn about "the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association." Because they didn't care much for Thomas Jefferson, who coined the term "wall of separation between church and state," they erased him from the history books, only to be replaced by lessons on the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas. As if scrubbing Jefferson's name from history were not enough, the board adopted measures in May requiring students to "examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed its free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and compare and contrast this to the phrase 'separation of church and state.'" This reflects conservative evangelicals' false contention that the doctrine of separation of church and state was fabricated by judges and was not part of the original intent of the Constitution's drafters. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson from Texas has introduced H. Res 1593, which "supports standards that guide curriculum development, instruction, and assessment in classrooms that are developed by experts and not subject to political biases." Please contact your U.S. Representative today to urge him or her to cosponsor this important resolution. Click on the "SEND MESSAGE" button below to send an e-mail to your U.S. Representative. You may modify the letter with your own words if you wish, but please send your letter as soon as possible. Thank you. Recipients Your Representative Contact * Required fields * Title: Mr. Ms. Mrs. Miss Dr. * First Name: * Last Name: * Your Email: * Address 1: Address 2: * City: * State / Province: Choose a State AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY AS FM GU MH MP PR PW VI * ZIP / Postal Code: * Phone Number: Yes, I would like to receive periodic updates and communications from Center for Inquiry. Remember me. What's this? Message Please cosponsor H. Res. 1593 to prevent political interference with curriculum standards. Dear [Decision Maker], As a constituent concerned about protecting education in our public schools from political meddling, I urge you to cosponsor H. Res. 1593.



* Personalize your message I am a member of the Center for Inquiry, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to fostering a secular society based upon the principles of science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. As a member of the Center for Inquiry, I urge you to support and co-sponsor H. Res. 1593. The Texas State Board of Education has made headlines over the past year due to board members' meddling with the state's social studies curriculum standards. The Board majority rejected academically sound recommendations by highly qualified teachers and academics, choosing instead to inject politically motivated and biased requirements into the state's curriculum standards. The Board's misguided curriculum standards harm public school children in Texas and throughout the nation. Because Texas is among the largest market for textbooks in the country, textbook publishers frequently tailor their textbooks to Texan curriculum standards. The Texas social studies standards the Board adopted could affect our public school students for years to come. Recent surveys show that nearly 3 out of 4 likely Texas voters want teachers and scholars, not politicians, to write public school curriculum standards. As your constituent, I feel the same way. I urge you to cosponsor H. Res. 1593. Please help ensure that public school curriculum standards reflect accurate historical scholarship. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[City, State ZIP]