(Roughly) Daily

It’s that time again:  pencils, books, teachers’ dirty looks…  Lest one forget that at least some students actually learn what they’re taught, Foreign Policy presents a round-up of “The World’s Worst Textbooks.”

There’s…

Saudi Arabia

“Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Islam, hellfire): Every religion other than ______________ is false. Whoever dies outside of Islam enters ____________.” — from a first-grade textbook

And then, there’s…

Texas, U.S.A.

“Explain how Arab rejection of the State of Israel has led to ongoing conflict.” And “Evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty.” — from study exercises proposed by the Texas School Board (thus, the “markers” to which textbook publishers create).

More on each of these examples, and others, at “The World’s Worst Textbooks.”

As we reach for our Zinn’s, we might recall that it was on this date in 2001 that, in an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror.”

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