Education
Texas Lesson Plan Instructs Students to Design Flags for a ‘New Socialist Nation’
(eagnews.org)
A curriculum system used across the state of Texas reportedly includes a lesson plan for 6th graders instructing students to create a flag for a “new socialist nation” using “symbolism to represent aspects of socialism/communism.”
The following was taken from the CSCOPE curriculum lesson plan: “Notice socialist/communist nations use symbolism on their flags representing various aspects of their economic system. Imagine a new socialist nation is creating a flag and you have been put in charge of creating a flag. Use symbolism to represent aspects of socialism/communism on your flag. What kind of symbolism/colors would you use?”
Upon discovering the controversial material, members of the Texas Senate Education Committee grilled the creators of the CSCOPE curriculum system in a hearing on Thursday.
Several witnesses testified before the committee and accused the program of promoting far-left, anti-Christian values while others called the program openly socialist, the Star-Telegram reports. Other critics said it is difficult for non-teachers to review the program.
“Discontent is rampant across the state,” said Peggy Venable, the Texas director of Americans for Prosperity.
Wade Lebay, director of state CSCOPE at the Region 13 Education Service Center in Austin, defended the program and its content.
“It’s built by teachers, designed by teachers and that’s what’s powerful about CSCOPE,” Lebay said.
In regards to the assignment asking students to create a flag for a new socialist nation, first-term Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) asked whether the assignment makes it appear that “we’re sympathizing with those types of countries.”
He went on to call the lesson plan “very egregious as a Texas and an American.”
Linda Villarreal, director of the Region 2 Education Service Center in Corpus Christi, further defended the assignment and accused lawmakers of singling out “just this one” assignment.
(cscope.us)
Sen. Donna Campbell (R-San Marcos) argued that CSCOPE also reinforces uniformity in Texas schools.
“Our teachers don’t need to be scripted,” Campbell said.
TheBlaze’s Mike Opelka previously reported that the same curriculum, CSCOPE, also includes a lesson plan that calls the Boston Tea Party an act of “terrorism.”
The following was included in the lesson plan for the Boston Tea Party:
News report: New Act of TerrorismA local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation’s busiest port. Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed in disguise and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities. It is believed that the terrorist attack was a response to the policies enacted by the occupying country’s government. Even stronger policies are anticipated by the local citizens.
“[T]his lesson comes from a non-profit group called CSCOPE. They are an offshoot of an educational program that traces its roots back to 1965 when the state established media centers / Education Service Centers (ESCs) throughout each of the state’s 20 school districts,” TheBlaze reported.
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