Montebello : Criticism of History Text Delays Adoption by Board

The Montebello Unified School District board is considering adopting a new history textbook series that has been criticized by some minority groups that contend the references to minorities are either incomplete or inaccurate.

The series, Social Studies published by Houghton Mifflin Co., has drawn fire from religious, racial and ethnic groups. The series includes nine different books, one for each grade, kindergarten through eight. In particular, the sixth-grade text has been criticized by Jewish groups that say its references to Judaism are inaccurate.

The board was expected to adopt the series this week, but school board member Eleanor Chow has asked district staff members to look further into the controversy that began last fall.

Virginia Kalb, the district’s coordinator of media services, said she still expects the board to adopt the series at its next meeting. She cautioned that the textbooks, like all other textbooks, are just a part of the curriculum, and are supplemented by other teaching materials. “The textbook is just one of the tools in a curriculum,” Kalb said.

Kalb added that the textbooks have been on display in the district office for the last six weeks for public review and that there has been no negative reaction. The series was approved last year by the state Board of Education.