Testimony for State Board Of Education, Texas
By Peggy M. Venable, Director
Americans for Prosperity-Texas
November 18, 2009

I was honored to serve as the first White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of Education in the Reagan Administration. At that time, we realized that our public education was failing many students and later issued “A Nation At Risk.” Though much talent and billions of dollars have been spent, I still consider this nation at risk.

In Texas, we have opportunity to support one aspect of our children’s education which is lacking – American History.

During the 77th Legislative Session, Gov. Rick Perry signed into law HB 1776 (sponsored by then State Rep. Rick Green) which designated a full week of classes in September as to celebrate freedom. Students are to study significant documents and events. This first observance was particularly relevant as it followed the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Celebrate Freedom Week, is a collaborative effort to help raise public awareness about the founding documents – the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence – and the critical role they play in the freedoms and rights we enjoy. It is an opportunity to educate students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of our country.

At that time the legislature passed this bill, surveys found that fewer than half the senior students surveyed at top universities across the nation could identify crucial events in American history. That is not acceptable.

We have some concerns and want to focus more of our students’ history education on what makes America a great nation.

"Celebration of Freedom" items not being covered in the TEKS testing and moving on into American Exceptionalism.

Currently the INTENT, MEANING and IMPORTANCE of the "Celebration of Freedom" subjects fall under "Celebration of Freedom Week" and not under the knowledge and skills criteria so children are not tested on the material. This is why many young people are not recognizing the significance of American history and of our Founding Fathers’ vision of America.

While in Oklahoma, for instance, includes the content in their Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) for Social Studies and has prepared a curriculum guide for their states’ Celebrate Freedom Week. Their objective requires critical thinking and analysis to “interpret” and “give examples” of rights and responsibilities under our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The same PASS objective also indicates the content to be mastered by listing specific liberties, such as due process and freedom of speech.

While this is currently a moving target and we aren’t sure what will be in and out of specific TEKS, George Washington is included in Kinder and then not again until 5th grade and President Ronald Reagan doesn't show up until 5th grade.

Example from Peter Marshall

George Washington succinctly declared: “The fundamental principle of our Constitution…enjoins that the will of the majority shall prevail.” Thomas Jefferson echoed: “The will of the majority [is] the natural law of every society [and] is the only sure guardian of the rights of man. Perhaps even this may sometimes err. But its errors are honest, solitary and short-lived.” Numerous presidents, Justices, and court decisions have made similar pronouncements, but that principle has found absolutely no embodiment anywhere in the TEKS; it should.

Regrettably, the only mention of the importance of the majority in a constitutional system was in the 1998 High School Government TEKS but that mention was eliminated from the 2009 TEKS.

From the TEKS Intro on "Celebration of Freedom" ---

(5) State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations and observances including Celebrate Freedom Week. Each social studies class shall include, during Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under Texas Education Code, §29.907, or during another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the formulation of the United States Constitution, and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the women's suffrage movement.

Each school district shall require that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under subsection (a) of this section, students in Grades 3-12 study and recite the following text: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”

Regarding American Exceptionalism…I will quote Ted R. Bromund is the Senior Research Fellow at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

“The United States is an exceptional nation. Most Americans would not regard that as a controversial statement. And there is a good reason for that: it is true. The U.S. is the world’s oldest and most stable capitalist liberal democracy, older even than Great Britain, which did not become a mass democracy until the late nineteenth century.

“And, while like all nations it controls its borders, it has welcomed more immigrants from more places than any other nation in the world. Indeed, the popularity of the U.S. as a destination for immigrants is the ultimate proof that it is, indeed, exceptional. Emigration is the greatest and most democratic election in the world, because it is based on the individual decisions of millions. The U.S. has been winning that great election since it was founded.”

We as citizens, parents, and taxpayers have the responsibility to make sure our students are prepared to become participatory citizens. It is important that they realize the significance of that role and the responsibilities we have to maintain our freedom and liberty which our fathers and forefathers have risked their lives, honor and fortune to provide us.

Peggy Venable is the State Director for Americans for Prosperity- Texas, www.afptx.org.

State Board of Education
Social Studies Curriculum Testimony by Heather Liggett
November 18, 2009

Heather Liggett is a stay-at-home mom and concerned parent of two children in the public school system. I have asked Peggy Venable to give my testimony due to Thanksgiving celebrations at my children’s school.

Alexis de Tocqueville’s book “Democracy in America” is an insightful piece of American life and to this day is one of the most quoted books in our history. Numerous leaders and politicians have referred to the book in their careers, and every historian of America has read this classic book. The New York Times said, "No better study of a nation's institutions and culture...has ever been written by a foreign observer; none perhaps as good." This statement leads us to ask, “Why is the teaching of American Exceptionalism not in our Texas schools for the benefit of our children?” Our own President is unfamiliar with the term and study of American Exceptionalism, and some criticize the term; we should use this teaching moment to clarify the ideals of America that set us apart from every other nation.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia in the late 1980’s, the majority of my teachers were from European countries. They taught and instilled in me the idea of American Exceptionalism. The term was given to us out of honor for our accomplishments. Born out of rebellion to a controlling entity, Americans have the freedom to choose their own destinies based on our God-given unalienable rights. The United States of America was founded on the principle of each individual having the right of their own mind, so long as it did not infringe upon the rights of another. America is derived on the virtue of the people granting limited authority to the government and these limited powers are conveyed in our constitution.

Tocqueville wrote one of the most quoted books about America, but many prominent foreigners – including Charles Dickens, Lord Bryce and Winston Churchill – have all commented on a desire to understand the American spirit that is the envy of free nations and makes us unique. Our Bill of Rights sets America apart from every other country – freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the rights of the accused and the right of the American People to rise up against our government when our unalienable rights are threatened. No other people have these rights and no other country has achieved what America has in our mere 232 years.

After WWII, only two countries emerged intact – the United States and China. China’s military was decimated while the United States had an amazing fleet of ships and subs, an Air Force unsurpassed by any other country, and lone control of the world’s only atomic weaponry. While Italy, Germany and Japan lay in ruins, we became a super power. And while countries would have taken over these lands with their superior military prowess, America refrained. We destroyed our bombers, scrapped our gleaming ships, and in an unprecedented move we sent BILLIONS of dollars to those countries we defeated so that they could rebuild their countries.

Exceptional – yes, it is exceptional to fund the rebuilding of those who caused undue harm on many free countries.

Some wish to call America an Imperialistic nation. It is impossible to put America in the same category as, for example, Hiro Hito of Japan for many reasons. We do NOT rule over an empire, and we do not govern another country. We have a handful of VOLUNTARY territories that benefit from their status as a territory. We provide them with protection and monetary gains and we do not require these territories to send any of their resources to the U.S. Unless we have re-written the term “imperialism,” then history has proven that “imperialism” has not, cannot and will not define the United States of America.

Freedom is the root to every success America has achieved, from the first photos of outer space, to the first and last moon landing, to the unparalleled secondary education system that is the envy of the world. The lifeblood of that root is the exceptionalism of the American Spirit.

The term American Exceptionalism is paved in sacrifice and must be worn in honor. It is not meant to devalue other nations but rather to point out the tremendous spirit of the American founders, the American heroes, the American entrepreneurs and most of all the American people who harness the pursuit of the American Dream.

Teaching this will allow our youth to embrace true progress.