Image 1 of 19

Mary Lou Bruer believes President Obama used to be a gay prostitute and that lessons on evolution led to school shootings. 

After months of heated public debate over what should be taught in history, economics, government and geography classrooms across the state, the State Board of Education voted to approve 89 new social studies instructional materials.

See some of the most controversial issues that surfaced during the process and how they were resolved. 
Photo: Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Image 2 of 19
After months of heated public debate over what should be taught in history, economics, government and geography classrooms across the state, the State Board of Education voted to approve 89 new social studies
Climate change
Issue: Some proposed textbooks included passages that cast doubt on whether climate change is a result of human activity. McGraw-Hill’s 6th grade geography book, for example said, “Scientists agree that Earth’s climate is changing. They do not agree on what is causing the change.” 

Outcome: The passages were softened or removed after experts from multiple national science organizations, headed by the National Center for Science Education, raised concerns.
Photo: Tony Gutierrez, STF
Image 3 of 19
Climate change
Issue: Some proposed textbooks included passages that cast doubt on whether climate change is a result of human activity. McGraw-Hill’s 6th grade geography book, for example said,
Issue: The Texas Freedom Network said multiple textbooks incorrectly link foundational elements of American democracy and legal tradition to the teachings of Moses and other religious leaders. For example, Pearson Education’s American government textbook says the Constitution was part of a “tradition familiar with the Ten Commandments as a guide for moral behavior.” McGraw-Hill states the Constitution was based in part on the Judeo-Christian concept of a covenant between a people and their God.

Outcome: These passages remain because Texas curriculum standards require the teaching of Moses in social studies classes. 
Photo: Gene Lester, Contributor
Image 4 of 19
Issue: The Texas Freedom Network said multiple textbooks incorrectly link foundational elements of American democracy and legal tradition to the teachings of Moses and other religious leaders. For example,
Tea Party bias 
Issue: The Texas Freedom Network says Pearson Education’s government textbook flirts with Tea Party rhetoric in regards to taxation and programs like Medicare. For example, the book includes a cartoon that shows a boss talking to a worker with the following caption: “Gibbs. I subtracted your federal, state and social security taxes and medical from your paycheck, and you owe the firm $50.”

Outcome: The passages and cartoon remain.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster, STF
Image 5 of 19
Tea Party bias 
Issue: The Texas Freedom Network says Pearson Education’s government textbook flirts with Tea Party rhetoric in regards to taxation and programs like Medicare. For example, the book
Affirmative action 
Issue: On multiple instances, Pearson Education’s government textbook included passages and cartoons critical of affirmative action. One largely-derided cartoon showed two space aliens looking down at the Earth and saying, “Relax, we’ll be fine – they’ve got affirmative action.”

Outcome: The cartoon was removed.
Photo: Eric Gay, Associated Press
Image 6 of 19
Affirmative action 
Issue: On multiple instances, Pearson Education’s government textbook included passages and cartoons critical of affirmative action. One largely-derided cartoon showed two space
Issue: Multiple textbooks focus heavily not just on teaching the tenets of a free enterprise economy, but on highlighting its benefits. Pearson Education’s government book states, “The proper role of government in economic affairs should be restricted to functions intended to promote and protect the free play of competition and the operation of the laws of supply and demand.”

Outcome: The passages remained in books since Texas’ curriculum standards require the teaching of the free enterprise system’s benefits in economics and government classes.
Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images
Image 7 of 19
Issue: Multiple textbooks focus heavily not just on teaching the tenets of a free enterprise economy, but on highlighting its benefits. Pearson Education’s government book states, “The proper role
Issue: Truth in Texas Textbooks urged the group to delete passages on “jihad” that included explanations of how the term can mean both “holy war” and an internal struggle for self-betterment. After pressure from this group and others, WorldView Software deleted the Prophet Muhammad from its list of notable people.

Outcome: The requests from TTT came too late in the process, so textbook publishers will have to decide for themselves whether to make any changes to the passages on Islam and terrorism. The board voted on Friday not to approve the WorldView digital products after several members raised concerns with its contents, a move the publisher called “arbitrary and capricious.”
Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff
Image 8 of 19
Issue: Truth in Texas Textbooks urged the group to delete passages on “jihad” that included explanations of how the term can mean both “holy war” and an internal struggle for
Issue: Wording in one of the proposed McGraw-Hill government textbooks understated the disadvantages African-Americans faced during the Jim Crow period and segregation.

Outcome: The passages were corrected after multiple groups spoke out against them.
Photo: Keystone-France, Gamma-Keystone Via Getty Images
Image 9 of 19
Issue: Wording in one of the proposed McGraw-Hill government textbooks understated the disadvantages African-Americans faced during the Jim Crow period and segregation.

Outcome: The passages were corrected
Photo: Craig Ruttle, FRE
Image 10 of 19

A requirement for public school students in Texas to evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty.

Related: Texas board to finish social studies guidelines

Photo: Adam Berry, G
Image 11 of 19

Several other issues also surfaced throughout the long debate, including the treatment of historical figures like Sam Houston and Caesar Chavez. 

Two experts appointed by the State Board of Education recommended Cesar Chavez, the late migrant farm labor union leader, be removed as an example of a significant model for "active participation in the democratic process."

Related: Social studies books turn a controversial new page
Photo: ALAN GRETH, STR
Image 12 of 19

Two experts appointed by the State Board of Education recommended Cesar Chavez, the late migrant farm labor union leader, be removed as an example of a significant model for "active participation in the

Towards the deadline for deciding the social studies curriculum, Sam Houston's political affiliation became a talking point. In reference to his opposition to Texas secession, was Houston a liberal?

Read more: The interesting conundrum of Texas' first president
Image 13 of 19

Towards the deadline for deciding the social studies curriculum, Sam Houston's political affiliation became a talking point. In reference to his opposition to Texas secession, was Houston a liberal?

Read more:

One of the State Board of Education-appointed reviewers suggested the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall be removed from history books on grounds that he is not an appropriate example as an historical figure of influence. Marshall was the NAACP lawyer who won the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court school segregation case that led to the integration of public schools.

Related: Social studies books turn a controversial new page
Photo: STF
Image 14 of 19

One of the State Board of Education-appointed reviewers suggested the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall be removed from history books on grounds that he is not an appropriate example as an

One of the State Board of Education-appointed expert reviewers recommended schoolchildren get a better understanding of the motivational role the Bible and the Christian faith played in the settling of the original colonies.

Related: Social studies books turn a controversial new page
Photo: Anonymous, Associated Press
Image 15 of 19

One of the State Board of Education-appointed expert reviewers recommended schoolchildren get a better understanding of the motivational role the Bible and the Christian faith played in the settling of the

Before it was nixed, Democrats and a moderate Republican accused conservatives on the board of trying to stir up a needless controversy by referring to the president's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, saying his middle name was loaded with negative connotation.

Related: Texas board to finish social studies guidelines
Photo: Pool
Image 16 of 19

Before it was nixed, Democrats and a moderate Republican accused conservatives on the board of trying to stir up a needless controversy by referring to the president's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, saying

The Texas Freedom Network argues the current curriculum gives credence to the idea that "states' rights and sovereignty" were the causes of secession and the Civil War, rather than slavery.

Related: Fight brewing over social studies textbooks
Photo: John Moore, Getty Images
Image 17 of 19

The Texas Freedom Network argues the current curriculum gives credence to the idea that "states' rights and sovereignty" were the causes of secession and the Civil War, rather than slavery.

Related: Fight

A change to the curriculum, pushed by a dentist, ensured students would study the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Related: Black Panthers overemphasized in Texas schools, NAACP says
Source: New York Times
Photo: David Fenton, Getty Images
Image 18 of 19

A change to the curriculum, pushed by a dentist, ensured students would study the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Related: Black Panthers overemphasized in

While not in the curriculum, Texas Republicans have voiced their approval of teaching creationism and/or intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution in schools and in textbooks.

Related: All four Republican candidates for Lt. Gov. say teach creationism in public schools
Photo: Peter Schmid, HO
Image 19 of 19

While not in the curriculum, Texas Republicans have voiced their approval of teaching creationism and/or intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution in schools and in textbooks.

Related: All four

A former teacher who believes President Obama used to work as a gay prostitute seems well on her way to joining the Texas State Board of Education.

Mary Lou Bruner, a Republican candidate for the State Board of Education, has some unusual beliefs that have in no way inhibited her run. The District 9 candidate in the GOP primary has earned 48 percent of the vote in a three-person race. Despite a commanding lead, she fell just short of the 50 percent threshold necessary to avoid a runoff in May.  The winner will help set education standards for a large portion of East Texas.

READ THIS: New Texas textbooks downplay slavery in the Civil War

Bruner’s most frequently reported-on belief – that Obama “hasn’t come out of the closet about his own homosexual/bisexual background” – appeared in a Facebook post she wrote on Oct. 26, 2015. She stated that “Obama has a soft spot for homosexuals because of the years spent as a male prostitute in his twenties.”

However, this might not even be Bruner’s most outrageous conviction. Bruner, who says she has a masters of education and spent 36 years teaching in public schools before retiring in 2009, has written several Facebook posts that seem at odds with the idea of education.

Bruner has stated that:

If you’d like to read more of Bruner’s thoughts, Gawker has compiled many of them. You’ll also learn what she thinks about Ahmed Mohamed, aka “Clock Boy” ("Could Obama have been complicit in the scheme from the beginning?”), dinosaurs (they were on Noah’s Ark and died after the floods wiped out their vegetation), and Muslims, climate change and gay marriage (she’s not a fan). The educator has deleted all the posts, although she told Breitbart "I still believe my statements were accurate."

Bruner will face chiropractor Keven Ellis, who received 31 percent of the vote, in a runoff on May 24. The Republican winner is expected to beat Democratic opponent Amanda Rudolph in the general election.

Already more than 100,000 people have voted for Bruner to join the State Board of Education, an organization already drawing intense criticism for textbooks that, among other issues, downplayed slavery and racial segregation. 

See more about Texas textbook controversies in the gallery above.

 

Outbrain