Tired of Media Bias: Texas Freedom Network vs. Texas State Board of Education

Tired of Media Bias: Texas Freedom Network vs. Texas State Board of Education”
by Donna Garner

As a Texan, I am so tired of having nearly every newspaper in our state continually quote Texas Freedom Network (TFN).   I have decided it is time to expose TFN for what it is. Then if the public chooses to believe TFN’s obnoxious, leftwing comments that are meant to destroy the efforts of the Texas State Board of Education members who are working so hard to bring authentic education reform to our state, so be it.  However, I believe most people do not yet understand the agenda that TFN is trying to force into our public schools.

As an example of the obvious media bias, April Castro, Associated Press reporter, used these words in her article on 3.12.10, “Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom…”  However, Castro referred to those SBOE members who are trying to bring American patriotism and exceptionalism back into our schools as “a far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education…”

Let’s see whether it is the conservative SBOE members or TFN that is outside the mainstream thinking of average Texas parents who love and care about their children.

“A Mainstream Voice to Counter the Religious Right” – that is how Texas Freedom Network (TFN) advertises itself.  TFN’s purpose in life is to lie, hound, vilify, discredit, and drive from office the elected conservative Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) members. TFN is in league with the liberal media.  Case in point: Associated Press April Castro’s biased blast that is appearing in various newspapers throughout the state.

I ask you parents who have children in the Texas public schools and who are concerned about what they are taught, “How mainstream do you think TFN really is?”

“Do you want TFN to have any influence over the type of SBOE members who are elected?”

“Do you want TFN to influence Texas’ education standards, textbooks, and curriculum?”

Let’s consider the answers to those questions:

Dan Quinn is the Communications Director for Texas Freedom Network (TFN).  Dan “outed” himself in an article in the June 3, 2001, Austin American-Statesman.

Cecile Richards founded Texas Freedom Network in 1995.  She is now the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. When Cecile left for Washington, D. C., Samantha Smoot took Cecile’s place.

When Samantha left for Washington, D. C. in 2005, she went to work for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest homosexual organization in the country.

Another far, leftwing organization has recently been added to the TFN alliance: MEChA.

Now we have Texas Freedom Network, Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign (largest homosexual organization in the country), and MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) all speaking as one voice.

On 3.25.10, The Daily Texan reported:

A UT-based group called Save Our History, an alliance between University Democrats, a Chicano civil rights group called MEChA and the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit that works to combat the radical right voice in education, staged a march and press conference on March 10. Garrett Mize, a member of the Texas Freedom Network and the coalition, said the group plans to continue its activism and hopes to expand its membership in preparation for the May meetings.

MEChA wants to eliminate the border with Mexico entirely. They honor Mexican revolutionary war hero Ernesto Zapata and Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

MEChA has held rallies to pressure the University of Texas not to celebrate Texas Independence Day on campus, and they advocate for “La Reconquista” or the retaking of the Southwestern states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah) to form an independent nation called “Aztlan.”

What parent in his right mind would want the TFN alliance to have any influence whatsover over what impressionable and vulnerable public school students are taught?  I know one thing: I would not want the TFN alliance to get within a 100 miles of my precious children and grandchildren!

Now I want to add yet another leftwing organization to TFN’s list of supporters:  the Center for Inquiry (CFI) based in Amherst, New York, with a chapter in Austin, Texas.  CFI is an atheist organization that closely mirrors TFN’s agenda.

Last year, CFI and TFN did everything in their power to keep the majority of Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) members from voting to allow Texas students the right to study all sides of scientific theories including evolution.  Thankfully CFI and TFN were defeated.

Now CFI-Austin and TFN are trying to churn up trouble as the Texas State Board of Education adopts Social Studies TEKS (standards).

On 1.20.10, Dan Quinn, TFN’s Communications Director, was recently commended by CFI-Austin for the talk he gave entitled “How the SBOE Plans to Kill the Social Studies Curriculum.”

To put CFI and TFN into perspective for Texas parents who may have been misled by the liberal news media’s obvious “love affair” with these liberal organizations, here is a recent statement (3.12.10) made by CFI where they decry the court decision upholding the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance:

The Center for Inquiry has expressed disappointment with Thursday’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 decision to uphold the constitutionality of the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance. The lawsuit was brought by California lawyer Michael Newdow on behalf of parents who objected to recitations of the phrase in public schools.

‘We are deeply disappointed in this ruling by the 9th Circuit, especially as several years ago the 9th Circuit had decided the Pledge was unconstitutional in its current form,’ stated Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO for the Center for Inquiry.

To sum it all up, Texas Freedom Network cares nothing about the well-being of our Texas public school children.  TFN is an organization aligned with far-left groups who have a definite agenda, and that agenda is to destroy the Judeo-Christian values of this country.

TFN is after people’s children because that is the way to effect permanent change in the present and future generations of Americans.

I trust that Texas parents will fight back by affirming the Texas State Board of Education members who are working so hard to make sure our Texas students are taught to respect our American heritage.

The Social Studies standards (First Reading) are to be posted on the Texas Education Agency website in mid-April.  Then the final vote on the Social Studies standards will occur on May 19 – 21, 2010.