BLOG7: "About the Media In the Media"

The Texas Board of Education recently approved a new social studies curriculum that will force changes to history lessons, social studies lessons, and economics lessons in all classes from elementry to high school. The changes to these classes means that textbooks will emphasize positive conservative contributions to the history of America. Republicans on the Board have long argued that there is no difinitive text within the U.S. Constitution that proclaims a separation of church and state; these board members argue that Darwinism is not scientifically conclusive and that the Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles. Many Republicans on the Texas Board of Education believe that history textbooks are skewed too far to the left, and that ammending the curriculum, as they are proposing, will bring balance to the education being offered to students. Those on the other side of this argument worry that Republicans are trying to rewrite history to support their own agendas.


In my opinion, this case is an example of conflict of interest. A conflict of interest occurrs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possible corrupt the motivation for an act in the other. In analyzing this case, one could argue that the board members are involved in a conflict of interests because each individual board member identifies as either Democrat or Republican, and each individual has an impact on educational curriculum. However, the fact that Republican board members have passed 100 amendments to the 120 page standard affecting social studies, history, and economics textbooks, speaks to the notion that these people are pushing hard their political agendas. One might conclude that Republicans are attempting to indocterinate students with conservative ideals in efforts to win votes for their party in the future. They could truly reach an astounding number of impressionable young minds through textbooks in public schools.