Oh to be a fly on the wall at the Texas School Board. This week, education leaders in the State senate are grilling the creators of an online curriculum that they say promotes Islam and socialism while deconstructing American values and patriotism. And Todd Starnes, the ever-vigilant culture warrior, is making sure we know the ungodly and un-American things those lefties are teaching our kids. “They are indoctrinating our children to hate America,” said Janice VanCleave, of Texas Education Patriots. 

The object of this right-wing opprobrium is CSCOPE, an electronic curriculum system that provides online lesson plans for teachers. The curriculum is used in 80% of Texas' school districts, especially the smaller ones that don’t have the resources to develop their own curricula. It’s a flexible system - districts are allowed to pick and choose which of the 1,600 lesson plans they want. According to Starnes, the lessons from the CSOPE curriculum include:

• Calling the Boston Tea Party an act of terrorism “They actually referred to it as a terrorist act [like 9/11],” said Texas State Sen. Larry Taylor. “Throwing tea into the harbor is nowhere near a terrorist act. To have our kids even thinking that…”
• Instructing kids to create flags for socialist and communist countries, using hammer-and-sickle style symbols the way such countries often do.
• In-depth lessons about Islam, including classroom readings from the Koran. “They were telling the children how wonderful and peaceful the religion was,” said Janice Van Cleave of Texas Education Patriots. “They were also taught that Allah is God.” (Really? Allah is the Arabic word for God, isn’t it?) Sen. Taylor noted that there were no comparable lessons on Christianity or Judaism. “It was alarming and eye-opening. I’m not sure what the purpose of that is.”

CSCOPE says the lesson is an exercise in perspective – something Fox News and its pals aren't too awfully good at. I know Fox Nation isn't always a go-to source for factual info, gentle reader, but you might be interested in this post with respect to the Boston Tea Party outrage. 

Not the first time the Texas right has tried to manipulate the school curriculum, with Fox News' blessing. And here's me thinking they believed in liberty down there!