"You can thank Republican Veep prospect, Governor Bobby "the
exorcist" Jindal for this development. Millions of tax dollars under his
voucher program will go to "save" the low-wealth and middle class kids from
Louisiana's horrible public schools to private schools run by fundies teaching
from textbooks rife with bible-based bullsh*ttery." (Mother
Jones)
The things Louisiana's children will be learning in these Bible-based schools are enough to make serious educators apoplectic: from the "evil" concept of advanced algebra to the ridiculous portrayal of the KKK as a champion of respectability, no subject is untouched by the imprimatur of the Christian Right and its worldview.
The most glaring problem with Jindal's voucher system is that it
helps fortify at least 19 schools with Creationism promoted as
"science". One enterprising college student, Zach Kopplin, has
started several petitions to stop the vouchers and has named 20 schools that
have 1365 voucher slots worth as much as $12 million (in taxpayer $). Kopplin's
petition also states how Jindal has resisted every effort to overturn the
Louisiana Science Education Act which allows Creationism to be taught as
"science" despite the objections of 78 Nobel
Laureate scientists.
The textbooks used in these schools are also suspect: A Beka Book
Publications and Bob Jones University Press are notorious for historical
revisionism and abject hatred of science.
Here are just a few of the things the kids in Bobby Jondal's
favored schools will be learning:
1. Adam and Eve
definitely romped with Pebbles and Bam Bam.
"Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on the earth at the
same time and may have even lived side by side within the past few thousand
years."--Life
Science, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2007
"...within the past few thousand years", so the Pharoahs and ancient
Greeks probably rode them.
2. Just another version of God's tough love.
"God used the Trail of Tears to bring many Indians to
Christ." - America:
Land That I Love, Teacher ed., A Beka Book, 1994.
3. Simon Legree was a horrible slander.
"The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well." - United States History for Christian Schools, 2nd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 1991
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