Will Barney Maddox Be One of the Most Important Educators in America?
The religious right may very well come out of this round of elections having outright control over the state board -- a huge and long sought after prize. If so, it will happen thanks to the support of the religious right supporters of both Mike Huckabee and John McCain. A strong turnout for Huckabee, and indeed, a strong Hagee-induced turnout for McCain, will bode well for the religious right challenger to the pro-science, pro-sensible public education incumbent. Time magazine is belatedly reporting on the stakes in the current issue.
For over two decades, the 15-member elected board has been torn between two factions: in recent years a coalition of five Democrats and three moderate Republicans has managed to hold off efforts by the seven socially conservative Republicans to influence the board's mission.
But while Huckabee may no longer be in a position to sway the outcome of the Republican presidential primary/caucus on Tuesday, he does stand to have a profound impact on another crucial, and potentially more controversial, vote that same day. So there we are. The religious right that is said by pundits who really ought to know better to be dead; declining; or whose "era" is allegedly over may very well play an outsized role in the development of not only the curriculum of the public schools in Texas, but the content of textbooks nationwide. The simple fact is this: The religious right will be a major factor in politics in America for the lives of everyone reading this post. It will change over time, and have ups and downs, like everything else. But all of the evidence shows a vibrant movement that has not died, but institutionalized. But which continues to show plenty of political and electoral oomph, even as the movement reinvents itself as the founding generation of leaders passes from the scene. The reason things get so far as the situtation with the Texas State Board of Education, is that too many of us fail to pay attention to what is actually going on the religious right in time to effectively intervene. This tendency is exaccerbated by pundits who argue that the religious right is somehow, suddenly inconsequential. Then just as suddenly, we get an "oopsies". The religious right has often made political strides far greater than even they could have imagined, because they were ignored, misunderstood and/or underestimated by their opponents. Isn't it time we changed that?
Will Barney Maddox Be One of the Most Important Educators in America? | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
Will Barney Maddox Be One of the Most Important Educators in America? | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
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