The ABCs of the Education Culture Wars
Activists and leaders on the right have spent the past three decades running “stealth” candidates and funding pressure groups in an effort to shape what American students learn in their public schools. Two of the fiercest state battlegrounds in the education culture wars have been Texas and Kansas, where social conservatives have, at various times, taken control of their respective State Boards of Education. The flash points in those battlegrounds have often been science and social studies, particularly instruction on evolution, the role of religion in the nation’s founding and efforts to promote conservative icons and ideology in textbooks and classrooms. Panelists will explore areas where the right has been most successful in its efforts to hijack education in service of a political agenda. They will also discuss resources available to progressive bloggers and activists who want to uncover, monitor and counter the right’s efforts at local, state and federal levels.
Dan Quinn has been communications director for the Texas Freedom Network since 2004. TFN is a grassroots, nonpartisan organization that supports public education, religious freedom and civil liberties and serves as the leading watchdog on the radical right in Texas government and politics. Founded in 1995, TFN has spent the last 15 years monitoring and opposing efforts by far-right members of the State Board of Education to censor textbooks and politicize curriculum standards for the state’s public schools. Because Texas is the second largest purchaser of textbooks in the nation, publishers often write textbooks to meet Texas standards and then sell those books to smaller states around the country. Dan also worked in the educational publishing industry for nearly 13 prior to joining the Texas Freedom Network and was a newspaper journalist covering education, local government and politics. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas State University.
Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a professor of English and Film at Texas State University, is the Democratic nominee for the District 5 seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Prof. Bell-Metereau has a Ph. D. from Indiana University and has received the Faculty Senate Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Service while at Texas State University. She also taught English and American studies in the Peace Corps and served as a French interpreter for U.S. Air Force relief flights in Chad, one of the ten poorest countries in the world. She was a Fulbright scholar and teacher in Senegal. Prof. Bell-Metereau won her March Democratic primary for the District 5 SBOE seat against four opponents without a runoff. Her Republican opponent in November is incumbent Ken Mercer.
Michael Bérubé is the Paterno Family Professor in Literature at Pennsylvania State University, where he holds appointments in the Department of English and the Program in Science, Technology, and Society. He is the author of seven books, most recently The Left at War, published in 2009 by NYU Press. Prof. Bérubé has also written for a wide variety of academic journals such as American Quarterly, the Yale Journal of Criticism, and Modern Fiction Studies, as well as more popular venues such as Harper's, the New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, and the Nation. His book Life As We Know It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 1996 and was chosen as one of the best books of the year (on a list of seven) by National Public Radio.
Judy Jennings is an education consultant and the Democratic nominee for the District 10 seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Dr. Jennings is currently the Director of Curriculum and Assessment at Resources for Learning, where she works to support teachers and schools. She has worked both for the Texas Education Agency and in the private sector on accountability and assessment issues. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and has worked in the field of education for almost 15 years. Dr. Jennings was unopposed in her March Democratic primary. She faces Republican Marsha Farney in the November election for the District 10 SBOE seat currently held by Cynthia Dunbar.
Steven Newton joined the National Center for Science Education as a Public Information Project Director in the summer of 2008. He received a B.A. in History from UC Berkeley, with an emphasis in modern German history and early 20th century pseudoscientific movements (eugenics, forced sterilization programs). Switching gears completely, Steven then completed an M.S. in Geology from CSU Hayward, with an emphasis in paleoclimatology. Following graduation, Steven taught geology and oceanography as an adjunct faculty member at a number of Bay Area colleges, where he developed courses in the History of Science and the Geology of the National Parks. In Steven’s spare 15 minutes/week (divided equally into 2:08 minute blocks per day), he enjoys racing sailboats and sculpting in marble and bronze.
