Mississippi Mudslinging
by digby
The liberals are “indoctrinating” Mississippi children:
Some House members want to ban Mississippi school history courses from promoting “any partisan agenda or philosophy.”
A measure, sponsored by House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, is supposed to keep history teachers or textbooks from indoctrinating students according to a particular partisan viewpoint.
“We’re trying to protect the history of our nation in its purest form,” said House Education Committee Chairman John Moore, R-Brandon.
The measure says in part that “public school history courses may not promote any partisan agenda or philosophy and may not be revised for the purpose of significantly changing generally accepted history to create a bias toward an ideological position.”
House Bill 1384 moves to the full House after being approved Monday by the House Education Committee on a 10-5 vote.
Republicans introduced the bill in previous years, Gunn said, adding that it’s a reaction to Texas disputes over what should be included in textbooks. He said he’s not aware of any similar problem that currently exists in Mississippi.
“We want to make sure our textbooks convey accurate historical information, not slanted on one or another position,” said Gunn, who did not attend the committee meeting.
Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, a committee member, said she was aware of problems at her daughter’s school. Currie said a teacher took liberal viewpoints when discussing current events assignments, leading her to demand a conference with school authorities.
“No matter which side of the coin you’re on, her teacher ended up going toward the liberal end,” Currie told the committee. “I was surprised she made it out of there, still believing the way she was taught at my house.”
Let me guess: she taught that slavery was wrong.
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