In revising a history curriculum, some famous people no longer cut it

Texas holds a lot of sway in the education of kids far outside the state. The state is so large that many of the textbooks in schools are written to satisfy the Texas curriculum.

So if your young child in the future has no idea who Dwight Eisenhower is, blame Texas, where education officials Thursday cut several historical figures from the curriculum.

The Dallas Morning News says critics -- that apparently includes teachers -- have complained that there are too many names on the list that are required to be taught to the little Texans.

So a volunteer work group put together a rubric to come up with scores for the famous people who are required learning for the social studies classes. The criteria included whether the person had a lasting legacy or represented a diverse perspective, the newspaper said.

So off the list went Dwight Eisenhower, who guided the U.S. forces to win World War II and was eventually elected 34th president of the United States.

You might conclude, then, that Texas has a high bar for historical figures. But, you'd be wrong. Here's a list of people still on the list:

• Sam Walton

• Howard Hughes

• Scott Joplin

• John C. Calhoun

• Federalists

• George Wallace

• National Rifle Association (kept in the U.S. Government curriculum)

• Douglas MacArthur

• All presidents from Texas

Here are some of the 60-plus people who were also removed:

• Populists

• Lester Maddox

• George Patton

• John Hancock

• Oprah Winfrey

• Helen Keller

• The Four Chaplains

• Christopher Columbus

Teachers are still free to teach the history of those who've been removed from the curriculum. They will just no longer be considered essential.

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