Publishers of Texas textbooks respond to complaints on Clinton, Bush, more

AUSTIN — A biographical sketch of Hillary Rodham Clinton has been removed. Negative references to former President George W. Bush have been changed.

Those were among among hundreds of alleged errors cited by critics who testified at an all-day State Board of Education hearing last month on new social studies textbooks and e-books for Texas public schools.

Now, the publishers have responded. In many cases, they refused to make changes requested by special interest groups or private citizens. But in some, they agreed to modify or eliminate offending language or paragraphs before the board gives the books final consideration in November. The books will be sent to schools in the fall of 2015.

Worldview Software, attacked by Republican-leaning critics for the prominent mention of Clinton and negative comments about Bush, told the Texas Education Agency that it would eliminate the Clinton biography and a photo of the former secretary of state because the information wasn’t required by the state curriculum.

The company also noted it “reworked” the section on Bush to make it less harsh and more like the neutral biographies of other presidents covered in the book.

Some other topics that were in dispute:

Climate change

Social Studies School Services had to fend off attacks on its coverage of global warming in a middle school geography book. The book pointed out that fossil fuel emissions have caused a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica — which most leading scientists believe. The assertion was challenged, but the publisher defended it. But if “this is found to be categorically wrong, we would be open to rewriting the content,” the company said.

FDR vs. Eisenhower

Pearson Prentice Hall found itself questioned on why it had extensive coverage of Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a high school U.S. government textbook but no mention of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

A critic also questioned the book’s assertion that FDR pulled the country out of the Great Depression when some have instead credited World War II.

“This is a not a factual error citation,” the publisher insisted, noting that Eisenhower is referred to in a biography section of the book.

Regarding the Depression, Pearson said it would add a clarification that when factories began to respond to the war effort, “the unemployment rate began to fall, and the country was finally pulled out of the Great Depression.”

Reagan

In a U.S. history textbook for high schools, Pearson Prentice Hall was questioned about coverage of President Ronald Reagan, including his “exemplary leadership.” Pearson denied a factual error, noting that the book mentions “negative as well as positive critiques of Reagan’s leadership, in keeping with the text’s general treatment of all presidents.” The publisher noted that the state curriculum cites Reagan and Roosevelt to “describe the qualities of effective leadership.”

Abortion

Discovery Education Inc. was taken to task for its coverage of the abortion debate in its U.S. history book for high school students. One critic claimed the material showed abortion-rights advocates positively and abortion opponents negatively. Discovery declined to change it, noting that its electronic book “contains information about protests on both sides of the issue.”

Affirmative action

Pearson Prentice Hall also was criticized for its treatment of affirmative action in the U.S., including a cartoon that featured two aliens approaching Earth in a spaceship. One says: “Relax, we’ll be fine. They’ve got affirmative action.” Critics said the intent of the cartoon is to suggest that women, minorities and others who benefit from affirmative action are less than human. The publisher said it included the cartoon, along with others, “to give students experience interpreting and analyzing the viewpoints of the cartoonists.” But, Pearson officials said, they were willing to switch out the cartoon.

Follow Terrence Stutz on Twitter at @t_stutz.