Education "inexpert" Barton doesn't know Rosa Parks rode a bus

David Barton, who sits on the State Board of Education’s expert panel reviewing the Social Studies curriculum, has recently provided additional evidence that he is unqualified to participate as an expert.

In his critique of the review committee’s draft of the Social Studies TEKS Mr. Barton can't even get relatively recent events straight; such as his claim that Rosa Parks’ civil disobedience was related to sitting at a lunch counter instead of a bus seat. He also doesn't seem to understand the difference between civil disobedience and a boycott since he conflates the two when referring to the Montgomery bus boycott. Mr. Barton also strangely considers the Boston Tea Party to be civil disobedience which it most certainly was not since the tea in question was private property. Given his inability to grasp this widely understood material it seems prudent to be skeptical of anything else he has to say about less widely known events and persons.

I urge the review committees drafting the Social Studies TEKS and the members of the State Board of Education to ignore any of Mr. Barton’s recommendations given his proven lack of qualifications on these important topics.