Thomas D. Segel
What Are They Teaching America?
March 12, 2010
 

There is a lot of noise being made these days about what is being printed in Texas textbooks. Reviews show a distinct secular and liberal bias in some of the writings. The concern is because the annual buy of the Lone Star State is in excess of 48 million books. This volume almost assuredly dictates what will be printed for the remaining 49 states.

Having once served on the textbook committee I am not overly concerned about the end result of these multiple reviews. The books are always given a very good read by citizens who are residents of a very right-of-center state. Most of those reviewing the texts are also parents.

The thing that really does concern me is what is being taught young Americans attending the colleges and universities of this country. At last count there were 4236 degree granting institutions in the United States. The vast majority of these colleges and universities are solidly staffed with liberal to far left faculty members. For example, during the ten years I served at the University of Texas – Pan American, one additional conservative was a member of the faculty, on a staff of 450 people. He was a science professor and had little influence outside his field of study.

Another antidotal example is the University of Texas – Austin, the main campus of the UT system. Its heavy staffing and student body have turned the entire city in the most liberal bastion in Texas, a "Red” oriented state, where the GOP holds every office.

How bad are the national leftist leanings. Campus Watch has found that more than four out of every five professors and instructors on college campuses have been identified as liberal. Fifteen present of faculty members profess no political orientation and only 5% of those on assorted faculties are identified as conservative. This has happened in a country where 40% of the population indicates it has conservative values.

In 2005, even the New York Times became concerned about the leftist-socialist leanings of Columbia University and wrote extensively on the topic. The publication found that Middle Eastern Studies were extremely biased. The left displayed open hostility to Israel while the right stood solidly by the country. The end result was everything taught from Iraq to Afghanistan and the ongoing Palestinian situation leaned strongly left.

That same year a publication titled "Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty” noted that since the 1980s there has been a leftward surge in the recruitment of liberal instructors.

Today almost all of the department chairs are filled with liberal leadership and those departments determine who is hired. Liberals dominate faculty senates and those professors decide who among them will receive lifetime tenure.

Things are so bad on the campus of Harvard University the institution has earned the nickname "Kremlin on the Charles”.