Texas schools teach Boston Tea Party as act of terrorism

[The Annoyed Man]

On a lighter note...

-snip-

As it happens, my own ancestors on my father's side were tories, and post revolution they fled to Canada because of the rough treatment tories received at the hands of patriots immediately after the revolution.

-snip-

My ancestors on my father's side beat up your ancestors on your father's side.

It's all good now, right?

Maybe. You got any beer?

[Jaguar]

On a lighter note...

-snip-

As it happens, my own ancestors on my father's side were tories, and post revolution they fled to Canada because of the rough treatment tories received at the hands of patriots immediately after the revolution.

-snip-

My ancestors on my father's side beat up your ancestors on your father's side.

It's all good now, right?

Maybe. You got any beer?

Indeed I do, black & tan.

[emcee rib]

The liberal argument regarding American history generally paints patriots as terrorists.

Funny how they love when the Philistines bomb schools and buses in Israel, or shoot rockets that intentionally target noncombatants. Their labeling the US founding fathers terrorists is therefore almost certainly because Jefferson was a freedom-loving capitalist instead of a government-loving Marxist.

[Redneck_Buddha]

Yup...this is the unholy alliance with CSCOPE. Just as I suspected.

[bayouhazard]

I don't recall anyone killed at the Boston Tea Party so I shudder to imagine what they teach about The Alamo.

[sjfcontrol]

I don't recall anyone killed at the Boston Tea Party so I shudder to imagine what they teach about The Alamo.

Bunch of gun nuts with automatic military weapons and high-capacity clips!

[67SS]

welcome to the first stage of indoctrination,..... imagine.... all the signers of the Constitution are terrorists and worse... that our fore fathers were wrong....

welcome to what Adolf, Stalin, and Uncle Joe did... it is the turning point.....

[Andrew]

So we can possibly add minor assault to the some in the demonstration......still not terrorism.......Terrorism is meant to install fear into a large section of the populace, it is meant to demoralize a people, as I understand it the Boston tea party was meant to tell Britain we would not be taxed willy nilly, specifically on tea.

So " . . . no one got hurt . . ." morphs into "It's okay if someone got hurt." but it's still OK? Sorry, doesn't wash, if your original statement that no one got hurt, which was wrong, was meant to indicate that it couldn't be defined as an act of terrorism, then the fact that someone did get hurt makes it terrorism, as it puts people in fear of physical harm. Add to that the economic "hurt" and it becomes even more so. And if telling Britain that the tax was unacceptable by assaulting ship's crews and destroying property isn't, by telling Britain and a large portion of the colonies' population that you were willing to resort to violence, instilling fear into a large section of the populace, I can't imagine what is.

There was one "casualty" during the Tea Party, a colonist (Cane/Crane?)hit in the head by a thrown tea chest. The ships crews 12 or so men times 3 ships, were tremendously out numbered by the colonists, 200-300, and offered no resistance. The ship's captains proffered keys the locks on the holds and candles to light the way.
This was an act of protest and a peaceful one at that. British Men 'o War were at anchor in Boston harbor and likewise "stood to" but offered no resistance.

[chasfm11]

Yup...this is the unholy alliance with CSCOPE. Just as I suspected.

Unholy indeed. My religion teaches me that evil hates the light. It appears that it is finally time to shine some light on CSCOPE.

It seems innocuous. It is:

a customizable, online curriculum management system aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). CSCOPE's high quality curriculum, assesment, and instructional components assist schools in meeting the high standard of rigor and relevance required in the TEKS and STAAR assessment

according to the CSCOPE website. Note - the spelling error is on that website.

The idea behind TEKS was that it was to assess whether the materials being taught in the class rooms conveyed the knowledge in such a way that the students could retain it. Now comes along CSCOPE which is geared toward TEACHING THE TEKS TEST. Where did we loose the concept of teaching the actual material? Teaching the test is bad enough. Some of the other evils are:
1. The CSCOPE material costs $7 per pupil per year. There are over 800 districts in Texas using it. When I try to do the math, I come u with a very big number
2. The CSCOPE materials are propriety. Even the Texas Board of Education representative who wanted to see the complete package with a log on waited 6 months to get it.
3. The 3-4 really egregious lesson plans that have been identified like the one on the Boston Tea Party are part of a 1,600 lesson series that has never been vetted by any Texas school representative, State or Local. No one knows how many more such problems are included - yet we are using it in 800 districts.

Who are the authors of CSCOPE and what are their credentials? Who made the decision to authorize Texas schools to use these materials?
We need lots more sunlight on this.

[Moby]

I teach my child about labels. Whether one is a terrorist or a patriot depends on what side you’re on. Each believes the other to be the negative.
Islamists believe they are doing the right thing. We believe their evil. It was no different with the founding fathers. We all just need to ensure our children understand this.

[MeMelYup]

When I went to school back in the 50(s) n 60(s), I was taught it was both. To the Brits it was considered an act of terrorism, to the colonials it was patriotism. For the colonists it was definitely a show of disdain.