“EXCLUSIVE,” blares Glenn Beck's news website, The Blaze, this morning as they blow the lid off a shocking story out of Texas:
BLAZE EXCLUSIVE: TX HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MADE TO RECITE MEXICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The lede is no less gripping:
Students in a Texas public high school were made to stand up and recite the Mexican national anthem and Mexican pledge of allegiance as part of a Spanish class assignment, but the school district maintains there was nothing wrong with the lesson.
The story centers around a sophomore in said Spanish class who objected to the lesson and complained to the principal. This same student videotaped the students reciting the pledge and the anthem en español, thus providing the critical evidence that high school students in Texas are actually being taught things.
It's a huge story -- most of the country has been laboring under the false impression that Texas public schools are mere fronts for the dissemination of anti-knowledge, in which students are fed garbage like "intelligent design" and right-wing revisionist history in the name of learning. The Blaze has helped tear away this veil of misinformation by conclusively demonstrating that students in Texas schools are actually learning things of value, like second languages and the cultural heritage of their southern neighbor.
Equally shocking was The Blaze's revelation that the teacher is not only of Mexican descent, but is actually proud of her heritage and uses that pride to inform her teaching of Mexican culture:
When Brenda made clear she would not stand up and recite the pledge, she was given an alternative assignment: an essay on the history of the Mexican revolution.
Meanwhile, other students continued with their presentations, which took place over the course of several days.
When Brinsdon talked to Santos -- a first-year teacher at Achieve -- about her new assignment, the teacher told her she grew up in Mexico.
“She told me that she loved Mexico,” Brinsdon said.
Let's all take a moment to thank Glenn Beck and The Blaze for not falling victim to conventional wisdom and actually reporting on the successes of the Texas education system and the pride and dedication of public school teachers working to improve young Americans' understanding of one of our most important allies.
Or, better yet: díganles “gracias.”