(AgapePress) - The chairwoman of the Texas Board of Education is defending the withdrawal of a textbook they say contains inaccurate and inappropriate information.

The textbook, called Out of Many: A History of the American People, is published by Prentice Hall. A passage in the book is entitled "Cowboys and Prostitutes." Grace Shore, who heads the State Board of Education, says the textbook was pulled because it not only was inappropriate for children, but it contained information that is questionable. She says it exaggerates the practice of prostitution.

"It said that there were approximately 50,000 prostitutes west of the Mississippi [River] in this timeframe," Shore says. "I don't know where they got their information, but the way it was written it made it sound like there were none east of the Mississippi, they were all west of the Mississippi. And then I thought it was just demeaning of women in the West, in general -- it made it sound like they were all prostitutes."

Complaints had been received that the book painted an unflattering portrait of the Old West. "I told the publishers I know that in deciding what to put in a book there are things that they have to leave out because they don't room, and things to include and things to emphasize," Shore says, "and that I thought there were many more things they could have chosen that would be more important to put in the book than this type of material."

Shore says the publisher also admitted that other problems had been found in the textbook.

The book's author claimed the withdrawal was due to "right-wing political correctness." But Shore says that is not the case. She says it is about accuracy and truth in textbooks.

Value of Faith
Still on the education scene, an Arkansas lawmaker is stressing the importance of Christian education in post-modern society where political correctness rules the day in public schools and universities.

U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson says he was very fortunate to grow up in a Christian home with parents who sacrificed a lot to give him the opportunity to receive a Bible-based education. Hutchinson says a Christian college or liberal arts institution can have a tremendous influence on one's life.

"The home is always the number-one impact in anybody's life, but when you figure the number of hours that a person -- whether elementary, secondary, or higher education -- [spends] in that classroom being exposed to the thoughts and the worldview of your teachers and your professors, then the kind of school you go to has a big impact," he says. "We need to recognize that. It can be an impact for good or for ill."

Hutchinson is a graduate of Bob Jones University and serves on the Senate Education Committee. He says his Christian beliefs play a vital role in shaping his policy decisions.

"My faith is a great resource for me personally, and for the challenges and the pressures that one experiences when you're a United States senator," he says. "I don't know how people can do this job without having a power outside themselves to rely upon and to pray to."

The Republican lawmaker says if believers are truly serious about their faith, it should dictate the way they view education, individual rights, the sanctity of the unborn, and other public policy issues confronting them daily.

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