The revisionist conservative agenda had a win in Texas. No surprise, I suppose. If you must use textbooks, (and with all that's available on the internet, from primary sources to open source textbooks, one can make a good argument they're obsolete), better buy them now.
On the other hand, I blogged a year or so ago about portrayals of Muslims in YA literature, mentioning an Islamic-based school in NYC that was facing serious racist-based backlash. The principal of that school was forced to resign. The NYT reported today that a federal commission found Debbie Almontaser was discriminated against, which goes a long way to supporting her re-instatement. Unfortunately, the NYC Dept. of Education apparently plans to continue the court battle.
Finally, it appears that Diane Ravitch, a key player in pushing NCLB, now says it's a disaster. No. Really? It does take courage to admit you were wrong, and take a public stance. I would be more sympathetic if there weren't a decade of damage to undo.
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