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Docu-watch: The Revisionaries

What happens when 15 people control what 5 million pupils are taught in public schools? 2010 was the year that saw the rise of the Tea Party. It was also the year that a small panel making up the Texas State Board of Education, literally edited out historical figures, events, places and science itself to suit an ideological agenda. The Revisionaries, a new film by Scott Thurman, reveals the politics at play during this period.

Release Year: 2012 Running Time: 83 Color Type: Color Country: U.S. Language: English

In Austin, Texas, fifteen people influence what is taught to the next generation of American children. Once every decade, the highly politicized Texas State Board of Education rewrites the teaching and textbook standards for its nearly 5 million schoolchildren. And when it comes to textbooks, what happens in Texas affects the nation as a whole.

Don McLeroy, a dentist, Sunday school teacher, and avowed young-earth creationist, leads the Religious Right charge. After briefly serving on his local school board, McLeroy was elected to the Texas State Board of Education and later appointed chairman. During his time on the board, McLeroy has overseen the adoption of new science and history curriculum standards, drawing national attention and placing Texas on the front line of the so-called "culture wars."

In his last term, McLeroy, aided by Cynthia Dunbar, an attorney from Houston and professor of Law at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, finds himself not only fighting to change what Americans are taught, but also fighting to retain his seat on the board. Challenged by Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, and Ron Wetherington, an anthropology professor from Southern Methodist University in Texas, McLeroy faces his toughest term yet.

THE REVISIONARIES follows the rise and fall of some of the most controversial figures in American education through some of their most tumultuous intellectual battles.

Louisiana's creationist "voucher" schools set to rake in $4 mil in public funding

"Charter" school. Sounds alright, doesn't it? The Republican party is a champion of charter schools or voucher programs, and are also proponents of homeschooling. But charter schools do nothing to help the public education system, which at one point, impressively enough, educated a generation of baby boomers and post-baby boomers.

The boomers are said to be the largest and most educated group of people in the history of the public school system. The things that generation accomplished have a marked effect on modern life, some obvious and visible examples being the vast majority of the infrastructure Americans use every day. The US's public education system churned out the generation that built some of the world's most impressive dams, bridges, interstates and skyscrapers, and let's not forget our baby boomer tech giants Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. But, as Chomsky points out, a debate has long raged over the very nature of education, and whether intellectual independence and curiosity should be a part of public schooling at all. Republicans have decided that education is a cost, one that can be cut with little explanation, except for one based on lies about shortfalls in social security caused by the mass retirement of baby-boomers.

Diversity is Key to Policymaking

FUN FACT: “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.”

These words ring just as true today as they did when first uttered by Plato, commenting on the democracy of his time. Just as they in Plato’s time, politics today are off-putting. From pointless arguments and scathing rhetoric to underhanded tactics and outright corruption, most of us struggle to see the point in even voting, let alone ever holding public office. This leaves us at the mercy of those who fill the void, and a federal government that barely reflects the population it governs.

We’re all familiar with the lack of racial, gender, religious, and ethnic diversity within the halls of Congress compared to society at large. However, another largely unreported aspect is perhaps the biggest roadblock to Congress’ ability to function – the lack of occupational diversity.

On the August 5 edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson presented the panel with some startling figures,“57% of the Senate, and 38% of the House [of Representatives], cite law as their profession,” Tyson reported. “In the courtroom, it doesn’t go to who’s right, it goes to who argues best. The act of arguing, and not agreeing, seems to be fundamental to that profession. And Congress is half that profession.”

Technically Congress is only 41% that profession, but Tyson’s point remains the same. Just as troubling is another figure: 39% of lawmakers list business as a profession. The next closest occupations are education at 15%, and health care professionals at 4%. Every other occupational background held by Capitol Hill lawmakers combines to form the remaining 1%.

The lack of occupational diversity is especially troubling for a governing body that is supposed to reflect and serve the interests of the American people. What’s more troubling, however, is that these numbers are indicative of a larger trend that has persisted for decades. According to the Congressional Research Service that provided the above occupational statistics, “in the overwhelming majority of previous Congresses, business has followed law as the dominant occupation of members.”