This would make George Washington roll over in his grave

They say history is written by the winners.

People have accepted this fact since humans began recording history. But when did we decide to allow Texas to decide the history we learn?

This year, the Texas Board of Education decided what material deserved to be included in the 48 million social studies books that the state buys and distributes annually.

Understandably, to appeal to this lucrative market, the textbook companies cater to the information that the Texas Board of Education determines is relevant to a student's development. Thus, whatever textbook the Texas Board crafts is the textbook that students all over the United States will read.

Of course, there will always some debate about what type of material should be put in textbooks. After all, textbooks are already huge – how many more pages of material can publishers include for students to doodle over?           

Unfortunately, this debate is being decided by a board with such a partisan and conservative view of history that at one point a member exclaimed,  "Guys, you're rewriting history now!"

This yearʼs social studies review has drawn the most attention not because of propositions to remove certain liberal figures from textbooks, but because the Boardʼs most conservative members hold that the United States was founded by "devout Christians according to biblical precepts."

The Board appears to be acting under the misguided logic that our founding fathers would be totally on board with textbooks that present ultraconservative viewpoints on modern social concerns. After all, Washington must have worried incessantly about the issue of gay marriage as he handled the Whiskey Rebellion and attempted to keep America safe from foreign conflicts.

Politics have frequently become entangled with the question of "what should our children learn?" For example, in 1925, the Scopes Monkey Trial addressed whether children should learn the theory of evolution or the Biblical story of creation in public schools.

Some years after the creationists won the court case, key players in the case actually admitted the trial was never about education or religionʼs place in America. It was just a ploy to bring some tourism to the town of Dayton. Americans laughed at their gullibility and continued teaching creationism, even though the trial had been a hoax and further evidence supported Darwinʼs ideas. Seriously?

Education is about empowering each generation with the tools and knowledge to achieve a good life and contribute to society as well-informed and caring citizens. At least, this is what I have always believed.

My parents viewed my education as providing the tools for me to achieve my dreams someday. Education was never about teaching me that one position's point of view is better than another. In fact, when I told my parents I intended to apply for the Great Con program, they were hesitant about my decision because they worried about me learning history from solely a Western point of view.

Considering these recent events, it seems that my parents and I hold a very naive view of education. Education is all about making sure the next generation thinks exactly like you and shares your values. Education is all about squashing out independent thought and force-feeding children from kindergarten through 12th grade exactly what you feel they need to be fed. This slanted manipulation of the history students will learn until the next review cycle (in 10 years) is just book-burning in a new guise.

As students will know (if it is still included in the textbooks), Hitler routinely burned any literature that could inspire opposition to his rise to power. If it is still worthy of history books, students will learn about the Hitler Youth and the dictator's brainwashing of children with the goal that when they became adults they would serve him unquestioningly.

What is happening now with our educational curriculum is the kiddie version of what Hitler attempted only decades ago. Perhaps then, it would be wise to reconsider our nation's stance on education.

Ben Taylor ‘13 (taylorb@stolaf.edu) is from Hoosick Falls, N.Y. His major is undecided.