History Books Spark Latest Texas Classroom Battle

WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As Texas mulls new social studies books for its 5-plus million public school students, some academics are decrying lessons they say exaggerate the influence of Christian values on America's Founding Fathers.

Some conservative activists, meanwhile, complain about what they see as liberal biases in the same books.

It's the latest ideological battle over what gets taught in the classrooms of America's second-largest state. But this time activists from the right and left are united in criticizing the proposed books, though for very different reasons.

The Board of Education won't vote to approve new books until its November meeting. They won't go into classrooms until the 2014-2015 academic year.

But the board is holding a public hearing on the books in Austin on Tuesday — and emotions may run high.