Final Edits Underway in Contested Textbooks

March 24, 2006

Source: The Argus

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3634817

On March 24, 2006 The Argus reported, "Members of the California Board of Education began meetings with publishers Thursday for final editing sessions of sixth-grade history textbooks. The Sacramento meeting comes despite lawsuits filed against the state by two Hindu groups, who challenge the way Hinduism is presented in the books and who say they take issue with the way the state went about its approval process... Suhag Shukla, legal counsel for the Hindu American Foundation, said the textbooks do not meet state standards for fairness, balance and sensitivity when comparing Hinduism to Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam... The foundation also says the state violated the law by holding private meetings without issuing a public notice or taking public comment... Earlier this week, a Sacramento Superior Court judge declined to impose a temporary restraining order to keep the textbooks from going to press, and scheduled a hearing for April 21. Meanwhile, some publishers say they may go ahead with printing and binding the textbooks to ensure they meet the state's deadline for finalized editions to be ready for consideration by school districts by the end of May."