Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? A proletarian revolution and a worker’s paradise, apparently.
The Texas State Board of Education, an endless source of entertaining curriculum news, has struck again, banning the classic children’s book, which was illustrated by Eric Carle. Why? Bill Martin, Jr., who wrote the text for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is also the author of Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation.
Except he’s not.
Bill Martin the children’s author died in 2004. The book on Marxism was written by a philosophy professor at DePaul University. Same name, different author, notes the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.
Bill Martin Jr. who wrote the Brown Bear series never wrote anything political, unless you count a book that taught kids how to say the Pledge of Allegiance, his friends said. Bill Martin Jr.’s name would have been included on a list with author Laura Ingalls Wilder and artist Carmen Lomas Garza as examples of individuals who would be studied for their cultural contributions.
Give the Texas State Ed Board low Marx for not doing their homework.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Your schools in chaos in your battle against secularity.
Just another reason Texas needs federal babysitting when it comes to the operation of their schools.
While I certainly don’t mean to condemn an entire state for the actions of a few (morons), these folks need direction, hope, and at least enough intelligence to join the rest of the country in its sojourn into the twenty-first century.
The governor and state superintendent of schools are using state sovereignty as their excuse to pass up Race To The Top monies. What they’re actually attempting to avoid is national standards which would prohibit them from teaching creationism/intelligent design alongside evolution in their science classes. We could never have that in the Lone Star state now, could we?
I’n gunna tell you what. It’s 2010, not 1910!!!
Comment by Paul Hoss — January 25, 2010 @ 9:41 am
Clever play on ‘Marx!’
I saw this fiasco this morning too. Quite ridiculous and I hope that the negative publicity spreads like wildfire on the Web. The whole textbook / curriculum approval process is a mess almost everywhere.
Comment by Scott McLeod — January 25, 2010 @ 10:07 am
While this is an amusing anecdote, it is also a sobering reminder that we need more educators on the board, and that we need to bring the focus of the board back to educating future generations of Texans. This is why I’m running for Texas State Board of Education, District 5. Visit http://www.voterebecca.com for more information.
Thank you,
Rebecca Bell-Metereau
Comment by Rebecca Bell-Metereau — January 25, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
Just wow.
Comment by Joe Bower — January 25, 2010 @ 2:47 pm
So that old crank who used to haunt the British Museum for all those decades is STILL causing other cranks around the world to trip up in strange ways.
Comment by Omri — January 25, 2010 @ 10:31 pm