Who would you rather have influencing textbooks?

FoxNews recently aired a special program entitled “Do You Know What Textbooks Your Children Are Really Reading?”
Part of that program included an interview with Kathy Miller, the president of Texas Freedom Network.  Texas Freedom Network (TFN) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization.  That means TFN can (and does) lobby for legislation and participates in political campaigns and elections. TFN received $1.9 Million for its Education Fund between 2002-2007.
Also interviewed was Neal Frey, who is the director of Educational Research Analysts, a 50l(c)(3) non-profit organization.  Educational Research Analysts is not permitted to campaign for particular political candidates nor do any political lobbying, and it does not. 
New Social Studies standards are presently in the pipeline in Texas. These new Social Studies standards will lead to new textbooks.  Texas is the largest K-12 purchaser of textbooks in the U. S.  Therefore, whatever is put into Texas’ textbooks influences what is put into textbooks used in public schools throughout the country.
Social Studies textbooks have the power to indoctrinate students’ thinking, and left-wing political groups know this.  They want to control the way children think.  They want to re-write history and de-emphasize the role of the historical documents upon which our nation is founded. 
Do parents want a left-wing political machine (TFN) influencing the content of their children’s Social Studies textbooks; or do they want a well-respected, academically capable, non-political group such as Educational Research Analysts influencing the content of Social Studies textbooks?
The differences between TFN and Educational Research Analysts are vast. Frey and his staff at Educational Research Analysts actually read every page of the textbooks, develop detailed critiques, provide a list of the factual errors in the textbooks, rate textbooks, and then present their findings in public hearings before the elected Texas State Board of Education, the Legislature, and to national organizations.
Educational Research Analysts sends their textbook rating sheets (for free) to every school in Texas to help educators make informed choices about textbooks. Educational Research Analysts functions very efficiently with a small staff and lives within its means on less than half of what Texas Freedom Network receives in its Education Fund.  Educational Research Analysts accepts no contributions from textbook lobbyists or political candidates and organizations, yet has nationwide influence because of its esteemed long-term service to the school children of our nation.
On the other hand, Texas Freedom Network is an aggressive, left-wing, political organization that is completely out of step with today’s parents, who want their children to learn foundational skills that will help them to become well-informed leaders of tomorrow. 
TFN has a well-defined political/social agenda for our school children. And TFN’s one agenda seems to be to practice the politics of personal destruction on the conservative members of the Texas State Board of Education and anyone else who holds the same principled beliefs.
Do you want TFN influencing the direction of your children’s textbooks?  Do you feel that TFN represents your views?  
To help you answer these questions, let me tell you about the people who are associated with TFN.
In 1995, TFN was founded by Cecile Richards, daughter of  Texas’ liberal Democrat Governor, Ann Richards.  Cecile is the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and still serves on the TFN Board of Directors.  Cecile was deputy chief of staff for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and worked with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  SEIU is closely associated with ACORN.
The Chair of the TFN Education Fund is Janis Pinelli, who gave campaign contributions to Obama, Hillary Clinton, Emily’s List, the Texas Democratic Party, and Rick Noriega for Governor.
Also on the TFN Education Board of Directors is Dale Linebarger who is treasurer.  He made political contributions to Obama, Ruben Hinojosa, Al Franken, Lloyd A. Doggett, Ken Salazar, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Border Health PAC.
After reading this list of left-wing individuals who are involved with Texas Freedom Network, I hope the next time you hear Kathy Miller interviewed by the media, you will carefully “consider the source!”  She wants to demonize the people who represent traditional values and undercut their efforts to raise academic standards for our students.
Donna Garner is a schoolteacher and education activist based in Waco. Contact her via e-mail at wgarner1@hot.rr.com.