TTT Examples from Texas Social Studies textbooks under review for Proclamation 2015

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt World Geography (High School):

Excerpt: “Young people in Cuba receive many benefits from the Communist government, including free education and health care. The education system extends

from preschool programs through college to graduate programs. However, young people, like all Cubans, live in a police state that limits their economic and

political freedoms.”

Half-truth: Cuba’s economic freedom score is 28.5, making its economy one of the world’s least free. Cuba scores far below world averages in most areas of

economic freedom, and its economy remains one of the world’s most repressed. The foundations of economic freedom are particularly weak in the absence of an

independent and fair judiciary. No courts are free of political interference, and pervasive corruption affects many aspects of economic activity. 2014 Index of

Economic Freedom Heritage Foundation Study in cooperation with the Wall Street Journal.

Excerpt: “European colonialism has caused political, economic & environmental problems in Africa today.” “Why has Africa not been able to take advantage of its

abundant resources? As a result of colonialism, the economics of many African nations are based on exporting resources instead of processing them.”

Omission of facts: “This ignores the inherent problems Africa faces. Colonialism had several positive outcomes in Africa: Britain brought in Rule of Law that

could prepare way for eventual self-rule; Britain actively suppressed the slave trade; tribal chiefs resisted & expanded the slave trade; Industrial & agricultural

skills of European immigrants were often useful; Infrastructure was vastly improved. Problems in Africa unrelated to colonialism were some of the main causes of

political, economic & environmental problems; poor communication & transport; resistance to change in farming methods. Africa is made up of many states

unable to secure sovereignty or solvency & without a common ethnic base.” Encyclopedia Britannica, History of the Modern World Palmer Coltan Kramer

McGraw Hill US History to 1877 (Grade 8)

Excerpt: “A voting dispute in Florida also affected the 2000 presidential election. An extremely close vote count led to a bitter dispute between Republican George

W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore over whether and how to recount the ballots. The dispute kept either party from gaining enough electoral votes to win the election.

This time, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling helped make Bush the winner and president.”

Omission of fact, half-truth & bias: “A voting dispute in Florida also affected the 2000 presidential election. An extremely close vote count led to a bitter dispute

between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore over whether and how to recount the ballots. Bush had the most votes by a small margin on the first

count. The Florida Secretary of State had declared Bush the winner of Florida’s 25 Electoral Votes. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling decided in a controversial 5-4

decision that a recount was not proper and Bush was declared the winner and president. The Florida Supreme Court had granted Gore a recount in four counties of

his choosing.” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_bush.html

Edmentum World History Since 1815 (High School)

Excerpt: “Before Lincoln could carry out his policy towards the conquered South, he was assassinated by a disgruntled Southerner.”

Omission of fact: Omits the name of the man who assassinated the president. John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at the Ford’s Theatre.

Worldview World History (High School)

Excerpt: “The Romans preserved classical Greek and Hellenistic culture, but did not make any significant contributions themselves to science or mathematics.”

Factual error: Ancient Rome boasted impressive technological feats, using many advancements that were lost in the Middle Ages and not rivaled again until the

19th and 20th centuries.

Excerpt: “Political democracy is seen by many as the means to achieve the equally important goals of social democracy (the right to an education, equality, and

freedom from discrimination) and economic democracy (the right to choose the type of employment, to own property, and to be guaranteed a reasonable wage and

financial security).”

Editorial opinion stated as fact and Half-truth: The first part of this quote is an opinion, not fact, that the goals of social and economic democracy are equally

important as those of political democracy. The last part of the quote is both contradictory and erroneous. Choosing employment and owning property are

characteristics of individual liberty and free markets, i.e. political democracy. Guarantees of wages and financial security are traits of regulated markets. The text

omits that “economic democracy” is a recently coined phrase with no commonly accepted definition. A capitalist definition is that “economic democracy refers to

a society in which all persons have equal rights to work, produce, invest, and buy and sell in a free market.”

Worldview American History II: Post-Civil War America to the Present (High School)

Excerpt: “Other Hispanic–rights organizations such as La Unida Raza, worked to improve educational, professional and social opportunities for Latin Americans.”

Half-truth: MEChA and the La Raza movement teach that Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon and parts of Washington State make

up an area known as “Aztlan” — a fictional ancestral homeland of the Aztecs before Europeans arrived in North America. As such, it belongs to the followers of

MEChA. These are all areas America should surrender to “La Raza” once enough immigrants, legal or illegal, enter to claim a majority, as in Los Angeles. The

current borders of the United States will simply be extinguished. This plan is what is referred to as the “Reconquista” or reconquest, of the Western U.S.

Edmentum U.S. History (High School)

Excerpt: “In the 1980s and 1990s, the country also experienced an increase in the divorce rate as this practice became more socially acceptable. Finally, many

Americans more readily accept same-sex couples, leading to debates about and growing support for marriage equality.”

Omission of fact and editorial opinion states as fact: This passage leave the student with the impression that redefining marriage is a given. In the 1980s and 1990s,

the country experienced an increase in the divorce rate in large part due to no-fault divorce laws. (Lynn D. Wardle, “No-Fault Divorce and the Divorce

Conundrum,” Brighan Young University Law Review, 1991). Thirty-one states and two territories currently have a law or constitutional amendment restricting

marriage to the union of one man and one woman and prohibit same-sex marriages, while nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage.

No mention of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) enacted September 21, 1996.

Perfection Basic Principles of American Government (High School)

Excerpt: “The radical right consists of groups that sometimes gather under the flag of militant anticommunism. Often known as reactionaries, they denounce most

forms of government regulation, including progressive taxation and restrictions and industry. Strangely enough, these radicals would not hesitate to use the

government’s police power to enforce the changes they desire. Examples of political groups on the radical right are the John Birch Society, the National States’

Rights party, The Christian Crusade, and the Tea Party movement.”

Editorial opinion stated as fact: There is no evidence that the Tea Party movement is militant or has used the government’s police power to enforce anything. If the

definition of “radical” is using the government’s police power to enforce desires changes, then the modern IRS, EPA, NSA and other federal departments &

bureaucracies which have used the police power of the government should be included. There are many "tea party" groups that are technically unaffiliated with one

another, but share similar ideals. The founding principles of the Tea Party Patriots are: "Constitutionally limited government, personal freedom, your rights", "Free

market economics" and "Fiscal responsibility.” TeaParty.org describes itself as a "grassroots movement that calls awareness to any issue which challenges the

security, sovereignty, or domestic tranquility of our beloved nation, the United States of America." Also, "We stand by the Constitution as inherently

conservative.” Identifying the Tea party as radical and fascist is false and without merit.

Excerpt: “What makes the constitution a living, growing document?”

Editorial opinion stated as fact: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said, during his speech on April 26, 2013, in Atlanta, titled "Interpreting the Constitution: A

View From the High Court," "The Constitution is not a living organism, it's a legal Document, and it says what it says and doesn't say what it doesn't say."

“We cannot doubt that the American Constitution has enduring qualities, has survived a long time, and is intended for ages to come. The Framers understood, with

the passage of time, imperfections and inadequacies would appear, and that the sovereignty resides in WE, THE PEOPLE. Therefore, the Writers provided the

method through Article V of the Constitution as to how, when, and if, the People ordained such a change. For these reasons, it can be said to be a "Living

Constitution," but should not be claimed by those who would use the language to subvert the structure.” http://www.nccs.net/do-we-have-a-living-constitution.php

McGraw Hill US Government (High School)

Excerpt: “The Obama administration has worked to support the development of renewable sources of energy. President Obama pledged to double the use of wind,

solar, and geothermal energy by 2020. The government has provided loans to renewable start-up companies and devoted some public lands to renewable energy

production. Some conservatives, oil and gas industry groups, and wildlife advocates have opposed these policies.”

Half-truth: There is no mention of the cost to taxpayers, of questionable loans made to political allies and of the billions of dollars lost in bad loans. Examples

include Beacon Power, BrightSource, Solopower, Solyndra, A123, Abound Solar and Ener1, just to name a few.

Excerpt: “In 2007 and 2008, the housing market collapsed and many homes were quickly worth tens of thousands of dollars less than they had been.”

Omission of fact: No mention of the role of government. “In 2008, more than 70% of subprime and other low-quality mortgages were on the books of the federal

government, primarily the “Government Sponsored Enterprises” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The GSEs bought these riskier mortgages to meet the politically-

motivated “affordable housing goals” that Congress assigned to them. As Peter Wallison, who served as on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, said, when

these mortgages defaulted, they drove down housing prices, weakened most large financial institutions and caused the financial crisis.

http://financialservices.house.gov/blog/?postid=343018

Edmentum US Government (High School)

Excerpt: “The development of the US government owes a significant debt to the political thinking of civilizations as far back as ancient Athens and Rome. The

framers of the US government combined democratic ideas from Greece and Rome with British traditions of equality under the law and the ideas of Enlightenment

philosophers.”

Half-truth: Passage omits the influence of ancient Israel. Thomas Jefferson discovered the basic pattern for a model constitution by studying two ancient peoples

who had both lived under People’s Law. He had found that ancient Israel was the first nation in history to have a system of representative government; then he

discovered that 1,500 years later the Anglo-Saxons were living under a system which was almost identical. Both Franklin and Jefferson later wrote that these

people were the source of the “ancient principles” which were the “wisest and most perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man.”