It is to be noted that the resolution will not be binding on future boards that will prefer to use next generation of social studies texts in the state.
The measure was first suggested Odessa businessman Randy Rives, who suffered defeat in his Republican primary bid. Later the conservative-leaning decided to have a vote on the suggestion. Board member Pat Hardy, R-Fort Worth, suggested that is important to hold a vote on the issue because none of the books cited by Rives still are being used in Texas. He added that Rives “might want to go back and get newer copies of the books.”
Don McLeroy, who is serving the final months of his term, noted that current textbooks still reflect an anti-Christian bias. “The biggest problem I saw was their overreach not to be ‘ethnocentric, It’s a very, very, very, very biased book. Christianity didn’t even make it in the table of contents,” he said about Advanced Placementworld history book approved in 2003.
McLeroy had pushed conservative requirements for social study textbooks used in Texas in the past as well. “It’s that great idea. That radical idea of Judeo-Christianity, that man is created in the image of God. So if you have world history books that downplay Christianity - Judeo-Christianity - and it doesn’t even make it in the table of contents, I think there’s a great concern,” McLeroy said.