I support this. I think that they should be encouraged not to protect
the pages unless absolutely necessary. One possibility: suppose you
let them know that you'll be willing to "mentor" and defend the work
(as you have already done), with my full support.
I haven't looked into this, so I'm not commenting on the situation as
it exists. But speaking generally, I would say that when we are
working on a standards-based work, the standard must not be changed
mid-stream and the standard takes on a role as a non-negotiable
organizing principle similar to "Wikipedia is an encyclopedia".
In order to finish something like a book of "World History" you need a
shared understanding of what it will be. And to complete something
that will be of practical use, we need to work to standards.
--Jimbo