{"id":48680,"date":"2012-06-21T11:50:48","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T16:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=48680"},"modified":"2012-06-21T11:53:10","modified_gmt":"2012-06-21T16:53:10","slug":"a-close-look-at-some-evangelical-textbooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/06\/21\/a-close-look-at-some-evangelical-textbooks\/","title":{"rendered":"A Close Look at Some Evangelical Textbooks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Louisiana’s legislature voted to expand its school voucher program<\/a> to cover the entire state, allowing parents whose children attend low-rated schools to use government-funded vouchers to help pay the cost of tuition at one of about 125 schools on an approved list (assuming, of course, their child is accepted). Another law recently passed in the state will provide tax credits for private donations to voucher programs, a policy already implemented in some states, including Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Critics have expressed concern about some of the schools approved for the program, including a lack of site visits in the approval process<\/a> and the inclusion of schools that do not appear to have the facilities or staff for the large increases in enrollment that would result if all of their available vouchers were used.<\/p>\n

The expansion of the voucher program has also brought renewed attention to the curricula used at schools receiving state funds through voucher systems. Some of the schools approved for the voucher program in Louisiana, as well as other states, use textbooks produced by several evangelical organizations, including A Beka Book and Bob Jones University. In the documentary School Choice: Taxpayer-Funded Creationism, Bigotry, and Bias<\/em>, Rachel Tabachnick and Bruce Wilson discuss Pennsylvania’s voucher program. Here’s an 8-minute clip focusing on the contents of some textbooks published by A Beka Book and BJU:<\/p>\n