June 10, 2005

Jackie Goldberg, 200 page textbooks, and the Marxist dialectic

California Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg is the author of a bill that would limit "instructional materials" to be used in kindergarten through 8th grade to 200 pages in length or less. Yes, that's right, Sacramento now wants to micro-micro-manage the lives of Californians right down to the number of pages in textbooks. There's already a law - yes, a law - that restricts the weight of text books.

Now, laughing at Jackie is certainly good fun and all, but the most pressing, nagging need for me is to know why the hell is she doing this? I mean, whatever she or the bill says, there's got to be something else going on. What is she after? It can't just be a desire to make students google for historical details and such. There's a start of speculation from a comment here:

...One can speculate on corruption (wiping out textbook contracts with some publishers, in favor of others) or ideological motives (wiping out use of some books in favor of new, more in-step books). If you simply take Goldberg at her word, she wants students to get more involved in the internet world, which of course abounds with all manner of, shall we say, eccentricity. It's one more way to attack parental authority over their kids...

For more, see "Assembly sticks nose into textbooks", "A textbook case of stupidity", and this thread.

Leave your speculation in the comments. Best use of the phrases "Marxist dialectic" or "means of production" wins a red star.

Posted to California at June 10, 2005 10:05 AM

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