Orleans Parish School Board Bans Creationism And Texan ‘New History’ Textbooks

[ashling]

In a state as red as Louisiana, finding sanity among elected officials is like finding unfried food in the Bayou. Recently, Governor Bobby Jindal had made news due to his voucher program which will, legally, funnel millions of tax payer dollars to schools that teach Creationism and similar gibberish like the Loch Ness Monster is real (no, seriously, they do). This move is not doing well in the courts but one school district isn’t taking any chances. Via Patheos:

Earlier tonight, the Orleans Parish School Board voted to amend the way they select their textbooks in the district. Previously, the Superintendent had the final say in “all textbooks and supplementary instructional” that would be used, with optional input from teachers and administrators.

Tonight, the board decided to add a new caveat to that policy

“No history textbook shall be approved which has been adjusted in accordance with the State of Texas revisionist guidelines nor shall any science textbook be approved which presents creationism or intelligent design as science or scientific theories.”

more:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/19/orleans-parish-school-board-bans-creationism-and-texan-new-history-textbooks/

[DollarBillHines]

1. Well, that's a start.

Good for them.

[Honeycombe8]

2. Wow. That's unbelievable. Seriously. Good for them. nt

[Mariana]

3. Wow, I hope they can keep their positions.

Next election the fundies will try hard to unseat them.

[beam me up scottie]

4. "They decided it would be more “American” if they downplayed the horrors of slavery"

In case you’re unclear what it is the Orleans Parish School Board is referring to, it has to do with a controversy from last couple of years in which Tea Party fanatics rewrote the guidelines for Texan textbooks. They decided it would be more “American” if they downplayed the horrors of slavery and the South’s role in it and at the same time more or less removing Thomas Jefferson from the books altogether. Why Jefferson? Because he coined the phrase “Separation of Church and State.”

Don’t you long for the good ol’ days when the Tea Party was still pretending to be “just about fiscal issues” before they stopped lying and we all found out that they were just the same old culture warriors and religious bigots?

I fully expect a lawsuit to be brought against the school board for “religious persecution” or some such nonsense. The groups that are pressuring schools to adopt Christian “history” have very deep pockets and very long memories.

Bravo Orleans Parish School Board!!!

[libodem]

5. OMG

YES!

[LeftInTX]

6. Good for them!