1) Plea for help from Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman, Dr. W. Wilkinson
2) Update from Texas Republican Party Chairman, Steve Munisteri
3) Hearing on supremacy of Islam over Judeo-Christian religions in Texas textbooks
4) Allegations
and answers about recently adopted Texas Social Studies Curriculum
Dear Fellow Montgomery County Republican,
We need your help!
If you can donate some of your time to
look up phone numbers and/or to make phone calls to Republicans,
please contact us at Montgomery County Republican Party Headquarters,
by return email at info@mcrp.org or by phone at 936-441-5621.
We all know how important the upcoming election in November is.
Montgomery County is one of the strongest Republican Counties
in Texas, which turns out many votes for our local and statewide
Republican candidates. However, this has not happened by accident.
It is because of the many volunteers like you who work every election
season to get as many of our fellow Republicans out to vote as
possible.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Dr. Wally Wilkerson
Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman
936-441-5621
info@mcrp.org
www.mcrp.org
2)
This Monday marked the 100th day of my Chairmanship – a period of time that has been both a privilege and a whirlwind.
The 100 day mark has traditionally been used as a measuring stick for new administrations, so I thought that I would take the opportunity through this Chairman’s update to provide you with an overall progress report.
This is a lengthy report, but it will give you a full flavor for what we are doing here at the RPT to accomplish the pledges I made during my campaign, where we are now, and what still remains to be done. There is much to tell you!
First, a quick recap on my activities since the last report three weeks ago. On Tuesday, August 31, the RPT held a summit of Hispanic Republican leaders here at our HQ in Austin. The meeting was arranged by SREC member Jane Burch, who is my nominee to be coalitions and auxiliaries committee chair. Also in attendance at this meeting were fellow SREC members James Barnes, Janet Jackson, Marian Stanko, Dr. Johnny Lovejoy II, Eric Opiela and Weston Martinez. The statewide Republican Hispanic organizations represented were: the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, the Conservative Hispanic Society, the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, the Americano, and GOP Is For Me. I had an opportunity to meet with several of the leaders in advance of the meeting in order to obtain their input on how best the Republican Party can reach out to the Hispanic community. Each organization’s representative presented a report on their activities.
There is important work for the RPT to accomplish in reaching out to the Hispanic community, so this meeting also provided us a great opportunity to introduce Justin Hollis, our new outreach director. Justin and I provided a brief overview of the work the RPT is currently engaged in, relative to Hispanic outreach.
As one of his duties as our outreach director, Justin has been specifically charged with systematically cataloging the names of all Hispanic groups in the state of Texas, such as Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, professional groups, Republican groups, etc. He will make a master calendar of events of these groups, and it is our goal to get Republican representatives to as many meetings as possible to broaden our outreach with Hispanic leadership.
I view this first meeting as a very small first step in a long process of outreach. We are committed to this important outreach – so I have also authorized Justin to inform the groups represented at the meeting, that (funds permitting) we will consider small grants from the Party for the publishing of brochures promoting the Republican Party in the Hispanic community. I’ve also instructed Justin to set up similar meetings in the future with the African American Republican groups as well as Tea Party and conservative groups.
The week of September 1st saw Congressman Lamar Smith dropping by our office for an update on the Party, at which time he pledged his support in assisting the Party’s rebuilding efforts. I also had an opportunity to meet with the leadership of some conservative PAC’s to discuss the upcoming House races which provided me a chance to acquire information to help develop our final strategy relative to targeting House races.
That weekend, I had a lengthy meeting with RPT treasurer Paul Bettencourt, who has done a superb job as our treasurer and has been of great assistance to me in transitioning the office into my administration. I asked Paul for his help in planning now for 2012, specifically on ideas for a voter registration drive and ballot security initiative. I asked Paul if he would be willing to be state chairman of an RPT task force devoted to these issues, and he graciously agreed. Thus, I’ve appointed Paul to be chairman of an SREC committee pertaining to this subject, and have asked him also to serve on an SREC committee for redistricting. I feel like Paul is uniquely qualified to do this, having been the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector for a number of years. It is very rare for a non-SREC member to serve on an SREC committee - Paul is the only person that I have asked to do so thus far, but I have done so because I feel that he has unique qualifications for the positions.
Since Paul will be heading this new task force, I have asked Tom Mechler who has been serving as a special assistant on finance, to take over Paul’s position as Treasurer, subject to SREC confirmation on September 25th. And, I’ve asked SREC member Tom Washington, who has been serving as a volunteer CPA and special assistant on finance, to be our new assistant treasurer, also subject to SREC confirmation on September 25th. Tom Washington is also vice-chairman of the Denton County Republican Party.
Additionally, I am submitting the name of Patrick O’Daniel as our new RPT legal counsel, subject to SREC ratification. Patrick was #1 in his class at the University of Texas School of Law, was a chapter president of the Young Conservatives of Texas in college, a member of the Federalist Society, a member of the Leadership Council of Texas Alliance For Life, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as well as a former clerk for Texas Supreme Court Justice Will Garwood. He currently serves as a partner in the prestigious firm of Fulbright & Jaworski (he will be serving as legal counsel in his individual capacity and not as a partner of that firm.)
In light of Patrick’s long dedication to the conservative movement, and his stellar legal credentials, I do not believe there is a more qualified person for the position in the State of Texas. On a related topic, I’ve asked Eric Opiela, an SREC member and former Executive Director of the RPT, to serve as assistant legal counsel. Eric has already been very helpful in answering questions pertaining to FEC and TEC filings, and I consider him an expert in this area.
I await a final decision from a prominent Texan that I have asked to serve as finance chair. I will be keeping you informed on this topic when I can pass along any announcement.
The Labor Day weekend passed by, and ushered in another busy week. On Tuesday, Sept. 7th, we had a general staff meeting where we made plans for our three statewide blockwalks, and received updates on our Trailblazers, Grassroots Club, Young Guns and strike force projects. That evening, the staff and I teleconferenced with over 100 County Chairmen to disseminate information relative to these programs.
In order not to reinvent the wheel, or engage in duplicitous efforts, we are contacting local county leadership to determine if they or local campaigns are planning blockwalks on the weekends that we’ve set aside. If they are, we are then directing our volunteers to the local effort. If they are not, then we are providing lists, literature, and will coordinate those efforts through Jenny Sykes, our organizational director. The dates of our blockwalks are October 16-17, October 23-24, and October 30-31. If you would like to participate in any of our blockwalks, please contact Jenny Sykes. If you would like to participate in our strike force or Young Guns program, please contact Josh Perry.
The next day, I traveled to Dallas to speak at a fundraiser at which Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was our featured guest. This event was described in a previous article in detail. It was a great success, with the lunch raising $55,000 and Senator Hutchison surprising me with a personal $10,000 contribution to the Party. After the luncheon, SREC member Jean McIver set up a meeting with Donald and Phillip Huffines, which resulted in their generous pledge of $10,000 to the Republican Party of Texas.
That night, I traveled to Houston and was the keynote speaker at the Daughters of Liberty dinner. This was set up by SREC member Bonnie Lugo, and also there were SREC members Valoree Swanson and Tina Gibson – it was a well-attended event.
The following morning, I flew to Washington D.C., to attend a conference of conservative leadership celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Sharon statement. I attended at the invitation of Wayne Thornburn, the former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas who has written a book (A Generation Awakes) on the development of the youth conservative movement in America, including the influence of the Sharon conference in 1960. The ’60 Sharon conference was held at the home of William F. Buckley, Jr., and resulted in a statement of principles written by M. Stanton Evans. I pledged my support of the Sharon statement approximately 35 years ago, and still support each and every one of the principles today.
What struck me about the conference and the review of the Sharon statement, was the fact that the fight for conservative principles that began 50 years ago continues to this day. There were several hundred leaders in attendance, and I got to visit with old conservative friends I haven’t seen in decades, including Frank Donatelli, former deputy chair of the RNC, Gary Hoitsma, former communications director for Sen. Imhofe and Reagan staffer, and Texans James Meadows and Terry Quist, who have been longtime conservative activists. The highlight of the evening was a keynote address by former Senator James Buckley, who was the New York Conservative Party United States Senator back in the 1970’s. He is one of my personal heroes, and I view this as unfortunately, perhaps a final opportunity to hear him speak live. All in all, this conference fired me up to work even harder back home in Texas.
The travel schedule continued unabated. The following morning, I flew from D.C. to Wichita Falls and then drove to Fort Belknap at the invitation of SREC member Golden Elkins to keynote the Young County Republican Roundup. The next day, I was the speaker at a Jack O’Connor for State Representative rally in Houston. I started the next week on the road, and attended a Lamar Smith function in Austin, before traveling to San Antonio for a meeting with potential contributors, a private meeting with the Bexar County Chairman Curt Nelson, and then a keynote address to the Bexar County Executive Committee meeting.
At the end of the week, we had an exciting announcement of the pledges of our Debt Busters committee. This is a project that I have been working on for many weeks, along with Rep. Jim Keffer who came up with the idea. On his own initiative, Rep. Keffer has spearheaded a drive to sign up House members to commit to paying off the remainder of the Party’s debt by year’s end. They have accumulated approximately $217,000 in pledges and presented me with a ceremonial check for $200,000 last Friday. This was indeed an exciting day for the Republican Party as it makes it increasingly likely that we will pay off all of the Party debt by year’s end. I will provide a more detailed description in the status report of the Party below.
Also that week, we launched a website – TheRoseRecord.com – which is a website to expose the liberal record of Democrat Representative Patrick Rose. We also have previously launched two other websites, DoneWithDunnam.com and KristiWorksForACORN.com – I would encourage all of you to check out these websites, so that you can see the research and hard work your Party has put into exposing the liberals and assisting our Republican candidates. We continue to look for more opportunities to target House races as data comes in. Currently, we are engaged in some exciting plans to support additional candidates by exposing their opponents’ records, and will have more announcements coming up soon.
Of course, we continue to coordinate with the Victory committee and their Executive Director Jarod Love, as Victory is a project of the RPT. We have five call centers set up through Victory and are providing phones to seven other campaigns. Additionally, our Executive Director Jesse Lewis was in contact with numerous campaigns over the last three weeks to determine if there is any specific assistance that the RPT can provide.
The 100th day of my Chairmanship was typical of my current life, as I appeared at another event for Jack O’Connor at lunch, met with a potential contributor in the afternoon, and was the keynote speaker for a Sarah Davis for State Representative event that evening. I was back at it the next day with a speech to the Greater Houston Republican Women in the morning in Houston, and a meeting with one of our elected officials in Austin in the afternoon.
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In this update, I would also like to take the opportunity to clear up a few misconceptions that have been reported:
1) There is a misconception that since RPT has had such great success of late in obtaining a significant amount of pledges, that I and the staff must be spending all of our time fundraising and very little time on the elections.
As you can tell from the above report, the vast majority of my time is actually spent traveling around the state, either assisting candidates, meeting with party and elected officials, or trying to fire up the troops. Because I’ve been averaging 18-20 hour work days, I’ve had ample time to assist candidates, oversee election day activities, and raise funds all at once. Moreover, virtually no staff time is spent on fundraising. We use outside firms to set up our fundraisers so that RPT staff is not diverted from election activity. I do virtually all of the fundraising legwork myself, and except for occasional staff support from Jesse Lewis, our Executive Director – no staff time is spent on fundraising.
2) I also would like to clear up the misconception that our obtaining contributions and/or pledges which total in excess of a million dollars, is diverting funds away from election activities.
The truth is the opposite for several reasons. Firstly, RPT can accept corporate donations – candidates cant. A significant amount of the money we’ve raised has come from corporations, money that by law, could not have gone to candidates but money that allows the RPT to function and provide the basic services and support of candidates and our county parties. Additionally, a significant amount of the large contributors are personal contacts or friends of mine who would not have contributed or pledged the funds they have committed to the Party, to our candidates. Again, their doing so actually allows us to help candidates in ways that we would otherwise not be able to.
3) Finally, the misconception that we are hurting elected officials by taking their contributions.
We have told elected officials who are in hotly contested races that we understand if they cannot contribute, or if their contributions must be of a token amount. We want them to keep their focus and resources on their races. The elected officials that have an abundance of funds, still have plenty in reserve to assist other candidates if they should wish to. The bottom line is, because the financial situation has so quickly stabilized and we know that the debt will be paid off - we are allowed to free up money to help candidates and elected officials on the ballot, with funds that otherwise would have gone toward debt reduction.
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The following is a 100-day status report on my key campaign pledges:
FINANCES:
On June 18th, 2010 – the Republican Party of Texas had $605,000 in payables, and an estimated $75,000 in already incurred outstanding convention bills that had not been paid. The total debt was approximately $680,000. As of last Friday, we had been able to pay this debt down to $390,000. I am also finalizing an agreement for a reduction in interest charges on old balances which total a reduction of $40,000 if the total balance is paid off by Dec. 31, 2010. This will make the net debt approximately $350,000. It is my intention to pay approximately $100,000 in debt this week, which will bring us down to approximately the quarter million dollar level. The Debt Busters committee has pledged enough that has not been collected to bring this debt down to $120,000, and they have pledged to raise the remainder. Even if they come up a little short, I am confident that our current fundraising program has the momentum to afford us a very high probablility of paying off all of our debt by the end of the year.
My original campaign pledge was to stop the party’s deficit spending, eliminate the debt completely in two years, and to not deficit spend ever again. I am confident this pledge will be met.
BLOCK BY BLOCK PROGRAM:
My second pledge was to engage the grassroots and organize them into an active volunteer force. During my campaign, I said that it would “probably” be impossible to organize a perfect effort for 2010, given the time and financial constraints, but that I hoped to put together some sort of organization this year, and be fully prepared for the 2012 Presidential election. But I am very happy to report that we have recruited over 2,100 volunteers for our Trailblazers program and that these volunteers are independent of the RPT’s Victory program. Field director Josh Perry has already matched each of these volunteers to their respective legislative and Congressional districts. As noted above, we are coordinating three statewide blockwalks in October. My appointment of Paul Bettencourt gives me great confidence that his leadership will help us be fully prepared for these programs in 2012.
MINORITY OUTREACH:
The third plank of my platform was that we would have outreach to conservative minority groups. I have hired an outreach director to accomplish this goal. We have developed a plan to systematically contact minority groups and I have met with Asian leadership, Hispanic leadership, Pakistani leadership, and Indian leadership in my short time as chairman. I hope to be able to spend greater time reaching out to these communities once the elections are behind us so that we can work together even more strongly in future elections.
YOUTH OUTREACH:
I also pledged during the campaign to expand our efforts on college campuses. To accomplish this, I reassigned Austen Bailey to coordinate youth outreach. I’ve already had a meeting with the State Chairman of the College Republicans, and have another meeting planned with youth leadership on Friday, Sept. 24th. Austen has also been given the assignment of starting an online and printed newspaper. He is accumulating articles now, and his target date for launch is October 1st.
CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES:
I also pledged to stand firm on our conservative principles and to this end, I have been traveling the state speaking to groups, giving media interviews, and publishing news releases defending our values. As Republicans, we already win on the ideas, and we are working hard to ensure we win in the voting booth as well.
A final note – at the time of this writing, we have 41 days left to the election, and far fewer days until early voting. I believe there has never been a more critical time in the history of our country during my lifetime, than right now. I call upon every Republican in the State of Texas to donate every hour of time they possibly can to blockwalking, telephoning, etc., to support our Republican candidates this election.
We have a rare opportunity to make a historic change and send a dramatic signal that the disastrous Democratic policies must be put to an end. It is imperative that we begin to turn our country around. Rest assured that I am working almost around the clock with you, and that together, I believe we can pull off a dramatic and history-changing victory.
Steve Munisteri, Chairman, Republican Party of Texas
P.S. I apologize for the length of this report. It was my intention to write a report every week or so, but as you can see – there has been barely a spare moment, and so this report covers a three week timespan. I didn’t want to edit it down because this is YOUR PARTY, and I promised transparency. I believe you have the absolute right to a complete accounting of what I and the Party are doing. Let’s move forward together to victory this November!
The Republican Party of Texas is a genuine grassroots movement
that stands strong for Texas values and freedom. Now more than
ever, we need and cherish your support to help keep Texas strong,
free and prosperous.
Prompting squawks of derision
from liberal commentators and reporters, the Texas State Board
of Education is about to debate a resolution submitted by social
conservative members calling for the rejection of social studies
textbooks that favor Islam over Christianity.
The resolution cites examples of bias in textbooks currently in
use across the nation, and also texts used in Texas schools as
recently as 2003. It demands that the Texas "SBOE will look
to reject future prejudicial social studies submissions that continue
to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major
religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise
and/or by demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others."
The resolution, scheduled for consideration at the SBOE meeting
on Friday, was proposed by Texas businessman Randy Rives, a conservative
and a former candidate for a seat on the elected education board.
The resolution includes four single-spaced pages of appendices
presenting evidence of its allegations.
"We're just trying to protect the school children of Texas,"
Rives told WND. "We have documented that in the past there
was some pro-Islamic and anti-Christian literature in some of
our textbooks. We want to put textbook companies on notice that
if this happens again, it can cause your textbooks to be rejected."
Rives also noted the prominent national role Texas plays in textbook
disputes.
"We are the largest buyer of textbooks in the United States,
and publishers like to try to get others states to accept the
same version [we use]. What we do in Texas influences the rest
of the nation and we need to take that seriously, and make sure
an agenda isn't pushed through the textbooks."
Rives conducted a study of texts approved by the SBOE for use
in Texas in 2002 and 2003, and found numerous instances of bias.
For example:
" Two texts devoting twice or nearly twice as much space
to Muslim "beliefs, practices and holy writings" as
to Christian beliefs.
" A text "dwelling on" a Christian massacre of
Muslims, but "censoring" Muslim massacres of Christians
during the Crusades.
" A text "claiming Islam 'brought untold wealth to thousands
and a better life to millions,' while 'because of [Christian]
religious zeal … many peoples died and many civilizations
were destroyed."
The resolution also cites texts currently in use in American classrooms,
and finds the same problems:
" "Patterns of pejoratives toward Christians and superlatives
toward Muslims, calling Crusaders aggressors, 'violent attackers'
or 'invaders' while euphemizing Muslim conquest of Christian lands
as 'migrations' by 'empire builders.'"
" "Politically-correct whitewashes of Islamic culture…and
indicting Christianity for the same practices they…minimize,
sugarcoat or censor in Islam."
" "Sanitized definitions of 'jihad' that exclude religious
intolerance or military aggression against non-Muslims."
Rives told Alana Goodman of the Alexandria, Virginia-based Culture
and Media Institute, "In the social studies books we need
to make sure that our democratic values are depicted and that's
not just my opinion, that's what the Texas education code says."
Much to the dismay of the Dallas Morning News, the resolution
also warns that "more such discriminatory treatment of religion
may occur as Middle Easterners buy into the U.S. public school
textbook oligopoly, as they are now doing."
DMN's Terrence Stutz reported that the resolution "offered
no specific evidence of such investments." Stutz apparently
did not bother to read Appendix III of the resolution, which cites
a European press report
that the Dubai royal family (Paul
G. says: with the money sent to buy oil that our president will
NOT ALLOW U.S. company to produce)"was becoming 'a major shareholder' in the Education
Media and Publishing Group."
EMPG, according to the resolution, "controls Houghton Mifflin
Riverdeep and Harcourt Education, two of the most successful and
established educational book publishers in the United States,
together forming the largest player in the K-12 publishing segment."
As WND previously reported American public school textbooks have
been used across the nation to promote Islam, and publishing company
executives are primarily responsible for the content of the texts.
DMN columnist Jacquielynn Floyd ranted, "Like a movie monster
that won't stay dead, the crazy-eyed 'social conservative' faction
of our ever-entertaining State Board of Education has caught us
all off-guard once more, lurching back onto center stage amid
a flurry of pitchforks and flaming torches."
Reporter Stutz failed to interview Randy Rives for his story,
but he did speak with Kathy Miller of the Texas Freedom Network,
which he describes as "a religious freedom group that has
battled with social conservatives."
Miller accused board members of "putting politics ahead of
just educating our kids," and, according to Stutz, argued
that "current textbooks offer a balanced treatment of the
world's religions."
On its website, Texas Freedom Network is calling the resolution
"anti-Islam," dismisses the resolution as "superficial
and grossly misleading," and attempts to refute it. But it
is TFN's rebuttal that appears to be misleading.
For example, TFN's first point asserts that Rives' claim of double
the coverage for Islamic beliefs is incorrect, because Rives ignores
lengthy discussions of the Christian church in history and Christian
influence on politics, art and culture. Rives, however, specifies
"beliefs, practices and holy writings" - in short, theology
- not history and politics.
TFN's second point also misses the mark. The resolution criticizes
a Prentice textbook for ignoring atrocities committed by the Muslim
conqueror Tamerlane. TFN responds that textbooks by Glencoe and
McDougal do mention Tamerlane's depredations - but the resolution
wasn't addressing those texts.
Nevertheless, Lauri Lebo of the liberal site Religious Dispatches
praises TFN's study as a "great critique."
Ironically, Lebo concludes that, "Based on TFN's analysis,
it appears board members, in putting together the resolution,
simply glanced at the textbooks they're criticizing, rather than
actually reading and comprehending the texts."
[Insert by Texan Donna Garner: Kathy Miller, who heads up Texas
Freedom Network (TFN), says her organization is "a mainstream
voice to counter the Religious Right."
You decide.
Dan Quinn is the Communications Director for Texas Freedom Network
(TFN). Dan "outed" himself in an article in the June
3, 2001, Austin American-Statesman.
Cecile Richards founded Texas Freedom Network in 1995. She is
now the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
When Cecile left for Washington, D. C., Samantha Smoot took Cecile's
place.
When Samantha left for Washington, D. C. in 2005, she went to
work for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest homosexual organization
in the country.
Another far, leftwing organization has recently been added to
the TFN alliance: MEChA.
Now we have Texas Freedom Network, Planned Parenthood, Human Rights
Campaign (largest homosexual organization in the country), and
MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) all speaking
as one voice.
On 3.25.10, The Daily Texan reported:
A UT-based group called Save Our History, an alliance between
University Democrats, a Chicano civil rights group called MEChA
and the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit that works to combat
the radical right voice in education, staged a march and press
conference on March 10. Garrett Mize, a member of the Texas Freedom
Network and the coalition, said the group plans to continue its
activism and hopes to expand its membership in preparation for
the May meetings.
MEChA wants to eliminate the border with Mexico entirely. They
honor Mexican revolutionary war hero Ernesto Zapata and Cuban
revolutionary Che Guevara.
MEChA has held rallies to pressure the University of Texas
not to celebrate Texas Independence Day on campus, and they advocate for "La Reconquista"
or the retaking of the Southwestern states (Arizona, California,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and
Utah) to form an independent
nation called "Aztlan."
What parent in his right mind would want the TFN alliance to have
any influence whatsover over what impressionable and vulnerable
public school students are taught? I know one thing: I would not
want the TFN alliance to get within a 100 miles of my precious
children and grandchildren!
Now I want to add yet another leftwing organization to TFN's list
of supporters: the Center for Inquiry (CFI) based in Amherst,
New York, with a chapter in Austin, Texas. CFI is an atheist organization
that closely mirrors TFN's agenda.
Last year, CFI and TFN did everything in their power to keep the
majority of Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) members from
voting to allow Texas students the right to study all sides of
scientific theories including evolution. Thankfully CFI and TFN
were defeated.
Again CFI-Austin and TFN churned up trouble as the Texas State
Board of Education adopted Social Studies TEKS (standards) last
spring.
On 1.20.10, Dan Quinn, TFN's Communications Director, was recently
commended by CFI-Austin for the talk he gave entitled "How
the SBOE Plans to Kill the Social Studies Curriculum."
To put CFI and TFN into perspective for Texas parents who may
have been misled by the liberal news media's obvious "love
affair" with these liberal organizations, here is a recent
statement (3.12.10) made by CFI where they decry the court decision
upholding the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance:
The Center for Inquiry has expressed disappointment with Thursday's
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 decision to uphold the constitutionality
of the phrase 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. The lawsuit
was brought by California lawyer Michael Newdow on behalf of parents
who objected to recitations of the phrase in public schools.
'We are deeply disappointed in this ruling by the 9th Circuit,
especially as several years ago the 9th Circuit had decided the
Pledge was unconstitutional in its current form,' stated Ronald
A. Lindsay, president and CEO for the Center for Inquiry.
To sum it all up, Texas Freedom Network cares nothing about the
well-being of our Texas public school children. TFN is an organization
aligned with far-left groups who have a definite agenda, and that
agenda is to destroy the Judeo-Christian values of this country.
I, Donna Garner, urge all Texans to support the Texas State Board
of Education members who want to stop the pro-Islam/anti-Christian,
anti-Judeo bias in our students' textbooks. -- Donna Garner]
I hope this update on the State Board of Education finds you well and enjoying a bit of cooler weather. We got our twin sons off to college and they are adjusting very nicely. That is more than I can say for my husband and me! We miss them dearly. We do still have one son at home, and he is a great comfort and joy.
Last spring, the conservatives on the State Board of Education (SBOE) worked diligently to produce rigorous history standards that will teach our children about their rich heritage and emphasize our country's founding principles. These standards will be implemented in the 2011-2012 school year. Unfortunately there was much misinformation circulated by the media. I hope this newsletter brings clarity to some of the key issues.
Let me tell you some of the wonderful things we revised in the history curriculum standards! We wanted students to learn about many of our Founding Fathers and patriot heroes of both our state and nation. Examples include William Blackstone, the Four Chaplains, William Carney, Philip Bazaar, and John Witherspoon.
We placed stronger emphasis on key historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Students will learn the liberties and responsibilities guaranteed by each amendment in the Bill of Rights. Every year during Celebrate Freedom week, students in Grade 3 through high school will now recite the following text from the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed.”
Here are more exceptional standards that passed (my comments in blue):
Grades 1-3:
(13)(A) identify characteristics of good citizenship including truthfulness, respect for others and oneself, responsibility in daily life, and participation in government by educating oneself about the issues, holding public officials to their word, and voting; (As the mother of two Eagle Scouts, I wanted to see strong citizenship principles included in the standards.)
Grade 8:
(3)(C) describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies (Our founding Fathers would be delighted that students will learn what it means to have virtue!)
American History:
(22) Citizenship. The student understands the concept of American exceptionalism. The student is expected to:
(A) discuss Alexis de Tocqueville’s five values crucial to America’s success as a constitutional republic: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissez-faire.
(B) describe how the American values identified by Alexis de Tocqueville are different and unique from those of other nations; and
(C) describe U.S. citizens as people from numerous places throughout the world who hold a common bond in standing for certain self-evident truths
(America is exceptional and our young people will now learn this important concept in their classrooms.)
World History:
(18)(F) formulate generalizations on how economic freedom improved the human condition, based on students’ knowledge of benefits of free enterprise in Europe’s Commercial Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and 20th century free-market economies compared to communist command communities. (As one wise constituent said, this revision will “set straight the free market’s positive record in world economic history.”)
Government:
(7)(G) 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.” (Won’t this standard lead to great classroom discussions? Under the trained guidance of our government teachers, students will study the First Amendment in great depth.)
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I have copied and pasted a Fact Sheet to the bottom of this newsletter. In April, I personally e-mailed this to every legislator in our state and to many media sources. There was little, if any, response to it and to the truths it contains.
So I am sending it to you with the hope that you will read it and learn what really happened with the revision of the social studies curriculum. Please feel free to share it.
In addition, you can read the revised history curriculum standards yourself. Please do so! I find that when people take the time to read them (instead of relying on what the media says); they are highly satisfied with the revisions.
The color-coded version of the adopted social studies TEKS are posted here . You will also be able to review the list of historical figures.
Many thanks go to all of you in my 24-county district who sent encouraging e-mails and phone messages. My conservative motions and votes during the history revisions reflect my pledge to represent my constituents and their concerns about our students’ education in the best possible way.
For our children,
Barbara Cargill
State Board of Education, District 8
Chair, Committee on Instruction
Please forward this e-mail to parents, teachers, administrators, and others who have an interest in education. Pol. Adv. Paid for by Barbara Cargill for SBOE, 61 W. Wedgemere, The Woodlands, TX 77381
A. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education is not listening to educators and experts and as such the SBOE should send the social studies standards back to the original review committees.
· FACT: The Social Studies TEKS review committees and some history experts made some revisions that were unsupportable, and the State Board of Education had to direct changes or vote to return to the original content.
Christmas, Neil Armstrong, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, religious heritage language, Independence Day, Veterans Day and Christopher Columbus were either removed completely or partially from several grade levels by the review committees. The State Board of Education members have assured concerned members of the public that these historical figures and important concepts were placed back in the standards where they had been taught for the previous 10 years. This action was based on the urging and feedback from numerous educators, experts and concerned members of the public. One “historian” even suggested Alexander Graham Bell and the Texas Rangers should be removed from Texas social studies standards. This recommendation was not adopted.
B. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education is making decisions on its own and not listening to educators.
FACT: Numerous educators urged the State Board of Education to teach students accurately about the country’s religious heritage and American Exceptionalism.
The State Board of Education voted to include requirements that students study about America’s religious heritage and American Exceptionalism.
C. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education is deleting minority figures from the social studies curriculum.
FACT: The proposed Social Studies TEKS include more minority representation than ever before.
Among the many individuals who have been added to the standards are Crispus Attucks, Jose Bernardo Guillermo de Lara, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Wentworth Cheswell, Francisco Coronado, Bernardo de Galvez, Juan de Onate, Adina de Zavala, Enrique Esparza, W.E.B. DuBois, Carmen Lomas Garza, Henry B. Gonzalez, Raul A. Gonzalez, Maria Mitchell, Ellen Ochoa, Jose Antonio Navaro, Irma Rangel, Juan Seguin, Erasmo Seguin, Phillis Wheatley, Lulu Belle White, Diane Gonzales Bertrand, Simon Bolivar, Bessie Coleman, Tomie de Paola, Marcus Garvey, Lydia Mendoza, Kadir Nelson, Danny Olivas, Raymond Telles and Amado Pena Jr.
D. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education is eliminating Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from the standards.
FACT: The State Board of Education members have not made any amendments to delete Cesar Chavez or Thurgood Marshall. The SBOE actually increased the emphasis placed on these historically significant individuals.
Both Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall have been made required elements of the curriculum framework. Students will study the legacy of these historically significant men in both the elementary grades and in high school, as Cesar Chavez has been added to Grade 5 American history and Thurgood Marshall has been added to the Grade 2 standards. Both already are taught in U.S. History Since 1877.
E. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education has included conservative groups in the Social Studies TEKS without listing any liberal organizations.
FACT: The curriculum standards include historically significant individuals and groups from a wide array of ethnic, cultural, racial and religious backgrounds.
For example, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is required study at two different grade levels. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also is required, as is separate study of founders W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells at various grade levels. Other notable leaders such as Anne Richards, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Jordan also are included.
Students are required to study various social and political advocacy positions, including organizations that promoted civil rights for African Americans, Chicanos and American Indians. Individuals who promoted civil rights, labor rights and women's rights also are included, such as Upton Sinclair, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B.DuBois, Clarence Darrow, Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall, Hector P. Garcia, Frances Willard, Jane Addams and Dolores Huerta. The proposed history standards include diverse individuals and groups for study at each grade level.
F. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education is excluding Hispanic and African American Medal of Honor recipients.
FACT: The State Board of Education expects students to know the significant contributions and heroic actions of Medal of Honor recipients from all backgrounds.
The SBOE added Medal of Honor recipients William Carney and Philip Bazaar to Grade 8 American history, and added Medal of Honor recipients Vernon J. Baker and Roy Benavides to the high school U.S. History course. The social studies curriculum standards specifically require that students study male and female Medal of Honor recipients of various racial backgrounds.
G. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education has eliminated Tejanos who fought at the Alamo.
FACT: The Social Studies TEKS include Tejano leaders who fought at the Alamo.
In Grade 4 Texas history, Tejanos Juan Seguin , Placido Benavides and Francisco Ruiz are required to be studied as important participants in the Texas Revolution. Lorenzo de Zavala and Jose Antonio Navarro also are required figures in Grade 4. In Grade 7 Texas history, students again study the significant roles played by Tejano leaders Lorenzo de Zavala and Juan Seguin as they review the events of the Texas Revolution, the siege of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.
H. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education has removed capitalism from the standards and substituted it with “free enterprise system.”
FACT: In Texas , students are required to study economics with an emphasis on the free-enterprise system and its benefits.
“Free enterprise system” is the terminology used in the TEKS since 1998 to describe the U.S. economic system. The State Board of Education has voted to retain this term in the social studies standards. At each grade level starting in Grade 2, however, information has been added that states: “Students identify the role of the U.S. free enterprise system within the parameters of this course and understand that this system may also be referred to as capitalism or the free market system.” The SBOE will be retaining the term “free enterprise system” that aligns with state requirements.
I. FALSE ALLEGATION: Thomas Jefferson has been removed or downplayed in the Social Studies curriculum framework.
FACT: Only George Washington is emphasized more heavily than Thomas Jefferson in the social studies standards.
Thomas Jefferson is taught repeatedly throughout grades K-12. Students study him in Grade 5 American history, in Grade 8 American history, in World History, and in U.S. Government. Jefferson and his important legacy have always been taught, and the State Board of Education has not changed this emphasis. As the author of the Declaration of Independence, and as a strong proponent of limited government and states' rights, Thomas Jefferson is the type of Founding Father and patriot hero about whom students should learn more, not less.
J. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education has decided we no longer live in a democracy.
FACT: The United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.
The Pledge of Allegiance correctly identifies our form of government as a republic, and the State Board of Education members expect students to recite that pledge and understand its meaning. This reference to constitutional republic refers to the form of government our Founding Fathers instituted.
K. FALSE ALLEGATION: The State Board of Education doesn’t believe students should learn about separation of church and state or First Amendment rights
FACT: Students in elementary grades, middle school and high school will learn about the important freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, as the Bill of Rights is outlined in Grade 5, Grade 8 and again in U.S. Government.
How Did The Township Board Incumbents
Vote in 2009 ~ 2010 ?
The following is a factual
summation of a 22 page document prepared by an existing Township Director
Peggy Hausman, who
is not in the race, but does speak out strongly for the interests
of all Woodlands residents and businesses. The chart below
seeks to sort through the mundane and routine actions, focusing
on the more serious and contentious issues. The incumbents are
all good people and have put a lot of effort in, but does their
vote reflect where you stand on the issues?
Each voter can draw their own conclusions from the following analysis.
Did you supporting setting
the new property tax rate at 32.8 cents? (See NOTE 1)
| Campbell | No | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | No | |
| Robb | Yes |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | No | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | No |
| Campbell | No | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | No | |
| Robb | Absent |
| Campbell | No | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | No | |
| Robb | Yes |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | No | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | No |
| Campbell | No | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | No | |
| Robb | Absent |
| Campbell | No | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | No | |
| Robb | Absent |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | No | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | Absent |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | Yes | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | Absent |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | No | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | No |
| Campbell | Yes | |
| Mathews | No | |
| Hunter | Yes | |
| Robb | No |
NOTE 1: The Houston Chronicle
reported,
“According to projections,
TCID could cover the cost of municipal services through sales
tax revenues and a property tax rate of 30 cents per $100 of assessed
value beginning in 2009, with slightly lower rates in the future.”
The 32.8 cent tax rate adopted was thus 10% higher than originally promised?
Why didn’t the Board reduce non-critical spending if needed
to achieve this commitment?
Mike Bass