Student sees political bias in high school text

Publisher now says it will review the book, as will College Board

WASHINGTON - Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded.

They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools.

Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for Inquiry, an Amherst, N.Y., think tank that promotes science and has issued a scathing report about the textbook.

"I just realized from my own knowledge that some of this stuff in the book is just plain wrong," said LaClair, who is using the book as part of an AP government class at Kearny High School.

Both authors are considered conservative. Dilulio, a University of Pennsylvania professor, formerly worked for the Bush administration as director of faith-based initiatives. Wilson is the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. Neither responded immediately to calls seeking comment.

The authors kept a phrase stating that global warming is "enmeshed in scientific uncertainty."

While there are still some scientists who downplay global warming and the role of burning fossil fuels, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific research say human activity is causing climate change. Last year an international collection of hundreds of scientists and government officials unanimously approved wording that said the scientific community had "very high confidence," meaning more than 90 percent likelihood, that global warming is caused by humans.

LaClair also was concerned about the textbook's treatment of U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding prayer in school. The book shows a picture of kids praying in front of a Virginia high school and states, "The Supreme Court will not let this happen inside a public school."

The textbook goes on to state that the court has ruled as "unconstitutional every effort to have any form of prayer in public schools, even if it is nonsectarian, voluntary or limited to reading a passage of the Bible." Those examples are not correct, says Charles Haynes, a religious liberties expert at the First Amendment Center in Washington. "Students can pray inside a public school in many different ways," Haynes said, adding they can pray alone or in groups before lunch or in religious clubs, for example.

Haynes said students can't disrupt the school or interfere with the rights of others. The court has said the prayer can't be state-sponsored, so a teacher can't lead a prayer and a school can't require it, Haynes said.

Another part of the book that the report criticizes deals with a Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas law banning sexual contact between people of the same sex.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24018762/

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

{Glancing at the title of the article about political bias in a high school textbook I knew at once the bias would be a conservative one. Conservatives have a long history of this sort of thing. Whether it be attempting to sneak religion into our public schools with "Creationism" and it's still born twin "Intelligent design" or trying to get rid of abortion by demanding that anyone charged with the murder of a pregnant women be charged with "two" murder counts. Thereby in their twisted view giving legal status to the unborn. We see the same thing with gay rights where they will use the most preposterous claims such as "gay tele-tubbies" to push their anti-gay positions anywhere they can. Guns? The same thing. Censorship? Remember their uproar over the Ronald Reagan movie and the TV show "nothing sacred" and their successful efforts to drive them both off the airwaves?

The problem is they can't convince the American people of the validity of most of their positions so they try to trick, threaten or bully their way in. Remember the white Ryder vans they would park in front of abortion clinics trying to make women think another Oklahoma city like car bombing was imminent and the shooting of Doctors who gave legal abortions?

Not all the right wing are like this of course but enough are to give us pause. The war in Iraq is a pristine example of right wing exaggeration, duplicity and out and out lies. The biggest problem facing the conservative movement in America is their phony value system. They are always preaching one thing and doing another, always trying to slip in unseen through the back door because we don't want them or their ideas in the house and block them at the front door. We even see it in the nomination contest going on today. Conservatives are claiming Obama is a "racist" because he is black and they feel blacks hate whites so it's fair game to use the "racist" card against him. Some of them claim Obama is a Muslim and the Clintons are "murderers" in their toxic attempts to get McCain elected President.

Moderate, fair minded conservative have mostly left the fold and found homes elsewhere. Thank the powers to be that we still can hear their voice on issues as a true conservative voice is vital to the well rounded debate between liberals and conservatives. We need each other for a free and democratic America.

We just don't need the liars, cheats and the agenda driven radicals.}

Rose