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In addition students also will use A.D. and B. C. instead of C.E. and B.C.E. According to MSNBC:
In addition to learning the Bill of Rights, the board specified a reference to the Second Amendment right to bear arms in a section about citizenship in a U.S. government class.
Conservatives also included a plank to ensure that students learn about “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association,” …
Why are objectives being decided by politicians? How about professionals in the various fields of study being the leaders with a good sprinkling of teachers, psychologists (to remind everyone of age appropriateness) and parents revising the curriculum. What you learn should not be political. Objectives should be neutral and not based on who won the last election. If there is a bright side, because of technology advances in the printing industry, states can tailor some of their own curriculum and Texas will not have as much influence as it has had in the past.
The Hispanic community felt very under-represented according to the New York Times:
Battles over what to put in science and history books have taken place for years in the 20 states where state boards must adopt textbooks, most notably in California and Texas. But rarely in recent history has a group of conservative board members left such a mark on a social studies curriculum.
Efforts by Hispanic board members to include more Latino figures as role models for the state’s large Hispanic population were consistently defeated, prompting one member, Mary Helen Berlanga, to storm out of a meeting late Thursday night, saying, “They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don’t exist.”
“They are going overboard, they are not experts, they are not historians,” she said. “They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world.”
The curriculum standards will now be published in a state register, opening them up for 30 days of public comment. A final vote will be taken in May, but given the Republican dominance of the board, it is unlikely that many changes will be made.
One thing not made clear in the last post about Texas textbooks is that the meetings held last week were about curriculum changes. The textbook companies will all try to accommodate these changes. In the past, California offset the more conservative Texas. That has not happened because of California’s financial woes.
What objectives are just unacceptable? Which show political bias? Which are welcome changes?
(The scroll box is easier to read if you increase the size of the page to 125% found bottom right hand corner of the page)
New York Times has more on the story.
“What you learn should not be political. Objectives should be neutral and not based on who won the last election.”
Agreed, except I’m not sure how that could ever be possible. You will never get “neutrality” in education where there are so many points of view.
As far as the objectives go, I’ll comment on a few:
*Adds references to “laws of nature and nature’s God”
No problem with that, as long as it is being presented as another way to look at things among several schools of thought.
*In addition to learning the Bill of Rights, the board specifies a reference to the Second Amendment right to bear arms in a section about citizenship in a U.S. government class.
No problem. Why leave that one out?
*Ensures that students learn about “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.”
Why not? That was a significant cultural shift. Let them draw their own conclusions.
*In teaching about the civil rights movement, students must learn about the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent approach.
Would these non sequiturs be presented simultaneously? Or is this NYTimes spin?
*Specifies that Germans and Italians were interned in the United States as well as the Japanese during World War II, to counter the idea that the internment of Japanese was motivated by racism.
Kind of dumb, since most of the Italians and Germans were not U.S. citizens, unlike many of the Japanese citizens who were rounded up.
*In sociology, requires the teaching of “the importance of personal responsibility for life choices” in a section on teen suicide, dating violence, sexuality, drug use and eating disorders.
Amend that to smoking, overeating, drug use, the value of work and self-reliance, deferring sex until adulthood and preferably marriage. Suicide and eating disorders are often based on pathologies and negative life experiences that can get way beyond a person’s control.
I wasn’t aware that boards of education were elected along party lines. Interesting. So I guess some of this makes sense as a reaction to what many feel has been the gradual revision of history. How many of us grew up believing Columbus was to be honored for discovering America? If one of my kids expressed that belief in their social studies class today, how long before that statement would be corrected and/or laughed right out of the classroom?
I guess I am wondering how this material is being presented in class. Is one second being emphasized over another?
I wouldn’t get too worked up over it, nobody reads these textbooks anyway.
Some interesting changes. I don’t really disagree with any of them. I do disagree that Thomas Jefferson is being eliminated. As writer of the Decl. of Indep., Sec of State, VP, and President…and of course founder of today’s Democratic Party.. Let the guy stay in. He’s earned it.
@Captain Idiot-Face
LOLOLOL!
Are you including yourself in that statement, Captain?
I am sorry but what is C.E. and B.C.E. Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (B.C.) worked just fine before. What will the comic strip BC do now? This CE and BCE is dumn.
Does it offend someone who can’t understand? sheesh
Those are the objectives that kids have to know. The textbooks haven’t gotten hold of them yet. I have a problem with some of them. I would suggest isn’t possible. Too bad academicians can’t be a part of the content objectives, but I suppose that in the past some of them have been a problem in the other direction. I hate that what kids are taught are held ransom by politics.
Rez, I think it has to do with living in a plural society. Common Era and Before the Common Era seem more religiously neutral. I have a problem with that being taken away.
I was rather shocked to read about internment of Germans and Italians during WWII. Weren’t they prisoners of war? The ones my father worked with during the war were POWs who had been brought here on ships that were marked as POW ships. It was sort of like having a safe passage policy. Also many wanted to stay here after V-E Day. There is no way that can even be compared to Japanese Americans being put into internment camps. No Way!
Things have gotten way too political if that is the kind of information kids will be taught.
Rez, when you were a kid, weren’t you taught we lived in a democracy? Now I hear that can no longer be taught. Out with the old, in with the new.
“Rez, I think it has to do with living in a plural society. Common Era and Before the Common Era seem more religiously neutral. I have a problem with that being taken away.”
Nope, I don’t agree at all. It is political correctness is all it is.
and democracy? democracy means majority rules. republic is a different matter.
Rez, and I think having to no longer say I live in a democracy is political correctness. Political correctness seems to be things that are inspired by politics rather than rightness or wrongness or tradition. Would you agree with that statement?
Rez, I think…operative word think…that in international academics, BC and AD are just no longer used. I believe that CE and BCE are required in most academic work. I will check into it. I would say it wouldn’t hurt anyone to know both and when it is appropriate to use one and not the other.
I have been thinking about this, Emma, and I think there is a way to make it fairer and more accurate and not so politically motivated. There are definitely some far left ideas that appear in textbooks that I don’t think much of either.
How about a lottery of people of various academic backgrounds and of various political backgrounds. Choose from the lottery. Then if it were balanced, level playing field, those in decision making positons would have to convince the others of why…..everyone might learn something.
This idea that Texas is going to always pump out conservative crap and California is going to pump out liberal crap is just crap. Well researched facts might really be the answer rather than someone’s political agenda. I have seen abuses on both sides.
The one that always sticks in my mind is a social studies book one of my kids had. Dolly Madison’s Revolutionary War (or something close) was the sub-topic. After reading that, one would have thought she was the Commanding General rather than the wife of a founding father. That part of the text completely overshadowed the fact that women has very few rights in those days and any power Dolly had was bequeathed to her via her husband. I felt it was disrespectful to the position of women of that era.
And while the eyes were on a few glory hogs in Texas, Rome burned.
Holy catfish. I just took a peek at objectives in the CCSSO or whatever it is called. Yup. NCLB on major steroids. Kids had better get a whole lot smarter and mature than they are now is all I can say. Glad mine are grown or they would have been hanging around the house until they were 30…because they would still be in high school!
Where is Kims? I have a million questions.
I was talking to my mentor, a student of Joe Dahmus at the Shippensburg history department before I went off to my PhD program at Catholic U, and I asked him about the BCE and CE thing. He explained it to me (it was new then), and I said “well, I don’t know what retard came up with that, but I’m gonna keep using BC and AD.” I think Dr. Gill was proud.
Yep, I tried to read them, but I couldn’t get through three sentences before nodding off. I don’t think anyone else was reading them, either.
The best part about school textbooks was the cartoons previous year’s classes had drawn in them. Or more specifically, the genitalia drawn on all the pictures. Napoleon on his horse was a favorite target.
Captain, as a fellow Catholic how do you see St. Thomas Aquinas being added to the social studies standard? I’m sorry to see Jefferson be moved out but am VERY excited to see Blackstone elevated. I do see St. Thomas Aquinas as a valid choice in terms of noted figures in the Age of Enlightenment (honestly, how his name is NOT on the list baffles me) but am interested in how they’ll angle his philosophy.
To quote:
The new standard, passed at the meeting in a 10-5 vote, now reads, “Explain the impact of the writings of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and Sir William Blackstone.”
Thoughts from the peanut gallary?
BTW, what the heck is BCE and CE?
Marin, what grade is that for….the impact of the writings? Also, where was TJ removed? I can’t see removing him from anything regardless of grade.
BCE – before the common era
CE- Common ERa. (Some call it Christian, some call it current)
Some academic programs, especially international ones, require that terminology used academically. It only makes sense since not everyone is Christian.
Marin, what grade is that for….the impact of the writings? Also, where was TJ removed? I can’t see removing him from anything regardless of grade.
BCE – before the common era
CE- Common ERa. (Some call it Christian, some call it current)
Some academic programs, especially international ones, require that terminology used academically. It only makes sense since not everyone is Christian.
Captain, if one is attending Catholic U, they can dance their dance. You go outside the private Catholic school arena, you might have to dance to another tune.
I don’t think AOL has a ‘political’ angle so I’m posting the story from their website.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/texas-removes-thomas-jefferson-from-teaching-standard/19397481
BCE and CE? Holy crap (forgive me Father, hehe) I never even heard of that. Guess I’ve been gone from school too long.
I really don’t want Thomas Jefferson to be removed. That would make me very, very sad.
On a side note, I got to carry (holstered) my pistol through his home last year. 🙂 🙂 🙂
What a crock! If they remove Th Jefferson from the curriculum, how are they going to teach about the “laws of nature and Nature’s God”? Pretty hard to teach about the Declaration of Independence without examining the life and views of its major author. I see some head up some behind on this one.
I do think it is a good idea to air out those incidences of wartime reaction to specific nationalities/ethnicities, whether American citizen or not. Was the internment of Japanese-Americans truly racism or did outright fear also play a strong role here? That would seem to me to be a research/discussion topic for class, especially if it can be projected forward to our contemporary reactions to Muslims after 9/11/. We have to give our kids some real meat to think about in these schools. You also have to couch it in terms which do not have us addressing historical incidents using just our contemporary thinking.
In fact, I would think that part of the curriculum should go all the way back to World War I, when German-Americans were treated like pariahs and frightened to death. I just discovered the form that Mrs. Wolverine’s Prussian-born, American-citizen great-grandfather (arrived at the age of 6 in America) filed when he and his family had to register as enemy “aliens.” I discovered that he had lied on the form six ways to Sunday. I have subsequently found out that HIS very elderly immigrant father, a former Prussian cavalry officer who was no longer so sharp mentally, was still very vocally pro-German in 1917, probably because the old man felt pangs of remorse at having deserted from the Prussian army to come to America, causing a permnanent split from his wealthy German family. Mrs. Wolverine’s great-grandfather went down to the enemy alien registration office and pretended to be his own father because the family was in abject fear that some of them would be interned because of their origins if the elderly father said the wrong thing during the interview. THEY WERE SCARED TO DEATH. Great-grandfather got away with it because he actually lived in a different state than his own father, and the USG wasn’t very good at tracking people down, especially out West.
We learn from history. I do not think we should avoid having thorough discussions on topics such as this, including a variety of views, historical and contemporary. Racism? Fear? A bit of both? More one than the other? Good questions. Very a propos to our current situation vis-a-vis the Jihad.
My understanding is that this issue is going to be revisited at another kind of meeting in May (in Texas). It’s not final yet, and I seriously doubt that it’s going to ever BE final. Cooler, wiser heads will eventually prevail, especially if the media keeps its lenses focused on it.
Removing Jefferson from the curriculum? Are they going to erase his name from the Declaration of Independence, too? Shouldn’t Virginians be howling more loudly about this?
Yes, Virginians should be howling, only if it is a lone call in the night forest, over Thomas Jefferson.
I agree with everyone walking away and scratching their heads. Probably more to come out on that one.
As to Japanese internment, Wolverine, I agree it is good to talk about it. And you bring up some good points that people do need to know about. We tend to judge that and the A-bomb by modern standards rather than through the eyes of people of the time. I was just fortunate enough to land where I got to live, breath and hear both sides.
I don’t think that the Japanese internment should be compared to the POW situation with Germans and Italians though. Apples and oranges.
My husband’s grandfather was from Germany and came over as a baby. He served in WWI. Go figure. It doesn’t sound like they were consistent back in the day. Actually, the flu killed him off in 1918.
One last question about BCE and CE. What does common mean exactly? Why isn’t BCE UE for Uncommon Era? Or maybe DE for Deficient Era?
LOL! Rez…
How about “the artist formerly known Anno Domini”? 🙂
I guess it should really be “the era formerly known as Anno Domini” to be more accurate.
I assume everyone here knows that the SCOTUS said the internment was legal and remains an option available to any US President that wishes to use it.
That’s Tex(ASS) for you! Taking the education out of schooling! Woot! Woot!
Texas: Proudly indoctrinating its children with reactionary drivel and draining the states IQ. I’m sure they’ll be the #1 spot for church “leaders”
Disgusting.
REz, I surely don’t know but you have cracked me up.
Marin, I think that option needs to be kept an option. I would hope it would never have to be used. I am heavily into safety neds.
Not me, Bubba. I am howling.
Really, there should be balance.
Somewhere there has to be a happy medium between Martha Washington and Dolly Madison carrying muskets and Phyllis Schlaffly advising the president.
Hey, Not Me, Bubba — You are messin’ with Texas, lad. Haven’t you seen those warning signs?!!!
Wolverine – Don’t care. I’ve got family there too…and I’ve let them all know how I feel about their….”state” Unfortunately some have had too much of the kool-aide. The only oasis in that GFS state is Austin.
And I am a woman, not a lad….I’d sooner live at the end of the runway of Newark Intl. in a cardboard box surrounded by crack-heads than live in TX. The people in Texas scare me far worse! :>)
I’m here! The common core standards are frightening, aren’t they?
Here’s a link to an article by Dr’s Sandra Strotsky and Ze’ev Wurman on the K – 12 Common Core Standards. Strotsky and Wurman are outspoken advocates of the need for public schools to set their standards high and push students to achieve those high standards.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/x90197788/Wurman-and-Stotsky-New-standards-will-set-back-schools
What many people don’t understand about the K – 12 standards, assuming they’re even aware that the federal government is backing national standards, is that these standards are based on the “College and Career Readiness Standards” issued by the CCSSO in the Fall. While those standrds claim to be college and career ready, they fail to meet the minimum general admission requirements for many public colleges and Universities and don’t come close to meeting the admission requirements for STEM fields.
So, in short, the CCSSO has just issued grade level specific standards designed to ensure that students are college and career ready which will either (a) force colleges and Universities to turn large numbers of public school kids away because they don’t qualify for admission or (b) force colleges and Universities to lower their entrance requirements.
Among Strotsky and Wurman comments on the K – 12 common standards are :
The VA DOE has been balking, a bit, at the Common core standards, thought it’s difficult to sort out whether they’re balking that the standards are too low, that they’ll replace the SOLs (which they will), or that the state will be expected to administer a national assessment instead of the SOLs. I kinda find this balking a bit odd as the state had been aware of the effort for over a year, has had an early draft of the K – 12 standards since December, and representatives of the VA DOE have assured me that they would be able to incorporate the K – 12 standards into VA’s standards with ease.
Oh – the CCSSO is taking comments on the K – 12 standards through April 2 (I think). If you submit comments be sure to send a copy to the the Governor and the Head of the VA DOE. I can get you those emails if you want them. The only way to stop this, or force them to reconsider what they’ve drafted, is for the public to scream and yell.
A cardboard box at the end of the Newark runway, surrounded by crackheads? Whoooee, somebody out there does not like Texas. Heh, heh. Not Me, Bubba — Did the Rangers just escort you to the Arkansas line or did they actually pass you over to the cops on the Arky side of Texarkana?