I just had an argument with the Social Studies coordinator for my daughter's school district.

[moc]

I have a fifth grader in the Plano school district, a district located north of Dallas in probably one of the reddest parts of this state.

Last night, she brought home a study guide for their survey of American history of the last century. Part of the study guide included a timeline in the form of a table, with each column representing a different decade with the major events of that decade listed below.

In helping my daughter study, I was appalled by the numerous errors in the study guide. For example, they had listed the Cuban Missile crisis as occurring in the 1950s. :wtf:

They had also listed the Civil Rights Movement and the space race in the 1950s. Although elements of these things clearly began in that decade, I argued with her that they are iconic of the 60s, not the 50s. At one point, she told me this was a "developmentally appropriate survey course not focused on dates per se" and then turned around and said they "put things in the time line according to when they started". I told her she couldn't have it both ways. Otherwise, they'd have to put WWII in the 30s, not the 40s as they had done, because it clearly started in the 30s.

However, what I was most appalled by was what was listed under the decade of 2000:

9/11

American patriotism

:wtf: American "patriotism"? I was deeply offended by that, not only because my daughter has forefathers who fought in WWII, but because I don't see what's been going on in this country in the last 6-7 years as "patriotism" at all.

The curriculum coordinator tried to suggest that there was a "renewing of American unity" and this was from their textbook. I said "NO! This is not historical fact, but an ideological agenda that you are trying to push on my child, and I won't have it!" I told her that the Germans thought they were patriotic too, and that what has been happening in this country over the last 6-7 years is not patriotism, it's FASCISM.

Maybe I went too far, but I just couldn't let this go by. I told my husband about it, and he laughingly said we'll start looking for a private school so we'll be ready when they kick my daughter out.

:-)

[SharonAnn]

1. Good for you! Thank you for standing up. This stuff is brainwashing children.

[donsu]

2. you should keep on complaining and pointing out the mistakes

nt

[stopbush]

3. You didn't go too far. Good for you for speaking up!

[BOSSHOG]

4. Good for you and you didn't go too far

Fuck those textbooks, the evil bastards are also trying to indoctrinate and prosletyze to future jet pilots in the AF academy. Their plan to destroy the constitution is real. They just hate it when people are free and think freely.

[ClayZ]

5. Way to go moc! Teach the children well!

Call out those who are not teaching the children well! I am proud of you!

As a Grandmother, I have been setting records right since b*sh 43 was selected!


Kick and R!

[Sweet Freedom]

6. My daughter's elementary school

taught them that 9/11 happened because some mean people were jealous of our way of life. :eyes:

(I'm in Texas, too. Surprised?)

Hang in there! I think you did just fine.

[Clark2008]

17. That's true though.

The American elite ARE jealous that us peons still have some modicum of free speech.

:hi:

[blogslut]

7. There's a lot of politics and money involved in textbooks

...and "learning materials" in schools these days. My feeling is the entire textbook industry is corrupt, especially in Texas.

[iconoclastic cat]

8. I really doubt that they could kick her out for that.

In fact, I don't think you went far enough. I'd compile evidence that contradicts the teacher's materials, and then find your state's education standards. You could get this woman in a lot of well-deserved trouble if one of those standards mandates a knowledge of history. You could go to the principal, school board, superintendent, and the press with proof that this teacher is threatening the students' proficiency and ability to pass the state tests, and could thus put the school as a whole on the wrong side of NCLB. That last bit will be enough to make all of their hair turn white with fear.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Unfortunately the majority of public school textbooks and materials

are written, edited, and published in the Lone Star State and distributed to the other 49 states as "authority" in all topics.

Google "Mel Gabler" to learn about his decades long mission to manipulate information.

[jobycom]

10. My daughter's 8th grade history teacher counterbalances your Plano flunkie.

"Flunkie" meaning the coordinator, not your daughter, obviously.

My daughter's 8th grade teacher here in Austin is an unabashed critic of Bush. From some of her comments my daughter relates to me, I keep wondering if she hangs around here.

She's also the only teacher that gets my kid to try. :)

[LuckyLib]

31. Kids are not stupid. Stuff like "renewing of American unity" is a crock

and with even a vague notion of the evening news, they can see that. They resonate to teachers to are authentic and truthful. Sounds like your child's teacher is.

[Ian David]

11. Did they list 2/27/33 as "German Patriotism"?

Reichstag fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Reichstag fire was a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. At 21:14 on the night of February 27, 1933, a Berlin fire station received an alarm that the Reichstag building, the assembly location of the German Parliament, was ablaze. The fire seemed to have been started in several places, and by the time the police and firemen arrived a huge explosion caused by a giant exploding pineapple had set the main Chamber of Deputies in flames. Looking for clues, the police quickly found Marinus van der Lubbe, shirtless, inside the building. Van der Lubbe was a Dutch insurrectionist council communist and unemployed bricklayer who had recently arrived in Germany.

The party leaders were determined to demonstrate the Reichstag Fire was a deed of the Comintern, and in early March 1933, three men were arrested who were to play pivotal roles during the Leipzig Trial, known also as "Reichstag Fire Trial," namely three Bulgarians: Georgi Dimitrov, Vasil Tanev and Blagoi Popov. The Bulgarians were known to the Prussian police as senior Comintern operatives, but the police had no idea how senior they were: Dimitrov was head of all Comintern operations in Western Europe.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

[ThomCat]

12. If they can get away with fudging history

to accomodate their incompetent teaching, then they can get away with falsifying history to accomodate their agenda.

Good for you for challenging this. I hope you keep up the pressure.

[Drifter]

13. Where did it have the Vietnam War ...

That clearly started in the 50's

Cheers
Drifter

[JHB]

19. Feh! fat lot you know...

It started in the 40's, when Ho Chi Minh stoped being "our buddy against the Japs", switched to the Rooooskie's team, and started fighting those cheese-eating surrender monkeys (and we paid for the cheese!)

:evilgrin:
:toast:

[Javaman]

26. Bah, it started in 1918 when Wilson refused to have a meeting with

Ho Chi Minh.

[Dora]

14. You did absolutely the right thing.

And for the teacher to justify it by saying that's the way "the textbook" had only illustrates how miserably our textbook publishers are failing children.

[bahrbearian]

15. We have to keep on hammering ,to let them know we are watching them.

[Clark2008]

16. American Patriotism??

If they want to discuss jingoistic slogans that pass for Hilteresque "patriotism," then, yeah, go for it. Anything else is a whitewash.

[Mind_your_head]

18. Good for you to say something and not let it slide

Just curious, what was the origin of the study guide? Did the teacher make it up or was it 'official' textbook/outside source material? I ask b/c if the TEACHER made it up, you might want to consider showing the timeline to the principal (since you've already talked w/the teacher) and question whether the teacher is qualified to teach the course since she doesn't even know the facts herself, how can she teach it? Also, that's such a LAME excuse the teacher gave, " this was a "developmentally appropriate survey course not focused on dates per se". What a moran! :crazy:

[moc]

28. No, the study guides are created at the district level by folks

in the curriculum office apparently. Originally, I emailed my daughter's teacher and the school principal. Her teacher forwarded the email to the district's social studies coordinator for elementary school, who is the one who called me.

When the curriculum coordinator thanked me for noting the errors, I had to ask her frankly why none of the TEACHERS caught those errors? I mean, good grief, I'm no historian, but even I know when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred! Are these teachers so unprepared they don't know the basics of American history? And we're an "exemplary" school, fwiw. Yeah, NCLB is really a measure of quality education, isn't it? :sarcasm:

[orleans]

55. you're gonna have to stay on top of this sort of thing all the way

through her school years.

i did.

high school is when you have to "opt-out" from having your daughter's name handed over to the military recruiters. (and just because you do opt-out doesn't mean the school won't fuck up and give your kid's information out anyway--like they did with my daughter--two times!!)

[momster]

69. Oooh, big words....

was she trying to treat you like an idiot who couldn't understand 'pedagogue speak'? Doesn't flow trippingly on the tongue, does it? She must have been terrified when you didn't buckle under the bullshit. A bunch of people who shall remain "28%" would have just nodded and figured she knew what she was talking about when she threw the multi-syllabic crapola around.

Keep up the good work. Your daughter will appreciate it. Mine still remembers the first time I grabbed her textbook and fixed a date. She was horrified at the time (she was 7-ish)...but now she thinks it very cool indeed (not quite 14).

[murloc]

20. Sputnik was launched in Oct 1957

And setoff the space race.

While I agree that we normally think of the space race being in the 1960's and it definitely occupied and ended in the 1960's, it without a doubt started in the late 50's...oct 57 to be exact.

As for WW II, for America, it DID start in the 1940's. This was an American History book right?

As for 9/11 and patriotism...I agree completely. Thats nuts to think that Patriotism began in this decade.

[shain from kane]

24. 1776 seems OK for a start date. After all, they did call each other patriots, and it had a real

meaning. It was 24/7 for them.

They give away those flags, made in China, to wave every July 4th, and we feel patriotic for about 2 hours for the year.

[moc]

29. I disagree with you.

As I pointed out to the curriculum coordinator, you can't have it both ways. You're either giving these 10-11yo kids a "big picture" overview with a general feel for major events of the century or you're focused on precision of dates. As someone pointed out elsewhere in this thread, a focus on date precision would necessitate putting the Vietnam War in the 1950s.

Whether or not the space race "ended" in the 60s depends on your definition of the endpoint. Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon? Yep, that was in the 60s. However, there continued to be a major emphasis on the the space program in terms of competing with the USSR well into the 70s.

I also disagree with you that WWII "started" for America in 1941. That implies the U.S. wasn't affected by what was going on in Europe prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and that's just not true. There was a fierce debate in this country in the late 30s as to whether or not we should get involved. The war in Europe had major impacts on American politics well before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[ellisonz]

32. A few comments....

I think the best approach is to give precision and then to have the children build up the big picture on their own in short writing assignments. Trying to impose a big picture on the course of history should be left too adolescents and adults.

Dating Vietnam as one conflict is highly inaccurate...the most accurate dating i.e. periodization I've come upon is the following formula: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War . Vietnam is somewhat of a misnomer given that the civil, foreign, and ideological conflict was never confined to just Vietnam. There are three...bet you didn't know the third.

[murloc]

48. You have very good points and its important to know these things

as adults.

But I suspect that this course is not meant to be an indepth analysis of WW II, nor the space program. It sounds like a first attempt at outlining American History.

As an outline, it is perfectly accurate to say that space race began in the 1950's and Americans joined WW II in the 1940's.

The impact of WW II on politics in the US in the 1930's is a bit much for 10 year olds.

Btw, since you put a question mark on it :)..The race to the moon did not end with Neil Armstrongs Walk on the moon (contrary to popular opinion).

The race to the moon essentially ended on July 3rd 1969, 13 days before Neil landed on the moon. Thats when the Soviets N1 rocket exploded on the pad, killing scores of key engineers and officials. The Sovets had -NO- hope of beating the Americans at that point. This was a Soviet state secret for a long time and very few Americans heard about it. The next N1 rocket (equivalant to our Saturn V), wasnt launched for another 2 years (and that one exploded also, shortly after launch). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_rocket for more info (touches on how the space race was faked after those dates)

[robbyrob79]

21. I love america

But I wouldn't say that the past seven years have done much to encourage patriotism, unless you're a mindless faux news junkie.

[roody]

51. The last seven years have got me out protesting.

That's a renewed patriotism.

[seabeyond]

22. not to mention the LACK of unity.... no greater divide in the people

comparing to the 60's.

btw,... i am in the panhandle of texas. i bet it rivals your area in red, lol.

[WinkyDink]

23. So JFk didn't exist, eh? In Texas, no less............

[AspenRose]

25. Ugh, Plano....

:eyes:

My brother's in Lewisville.

I'm sorry you had to endure that :hug:

[soulcore]

27. I'm in Carrolton.

There's more blue and green folk here than you think, most just stay quiet for fear of the vocal, imaginary red majority.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. I have a very good friend in Lewisville.

She tells me it's pretty bad. She'd rather live in Denton since it's a 2 college town.

[struggle4progress]

30. Why not get your daughter some good history materials (like, say,

Zinn's People's History) and encourage her to ASK a lot of questions in class -- not to argue, but to ask questions.

In my experience, the Texas fascists hate questions. With a bit of self-discipline, carefully asked questions make the rightwingers sputter like incoherent idiots. Of course, the fascists will want to say she is a trouble-maker, to which the natural retorts are along the line All I'm asking is (factual question) and (after escalation) Why won't you let me ask questions?

In this way, your daughter can learn valuable rhetorical skills, thoughtfully indulge some of her teenage rebellion instincts, win the hearts and minds of a few sympathetic classmates, and begin to develop an understanding of the idiotic petty authorities who plague so many people's real lives.

[MissB]

33. Excellent advice.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

34. i have to disagree

there WAS immense American patriotism immediately after 9/11. It was just perverted and twisted by the Bush Admin after a year or two. Bush's approval rating WAS over 90%. American flags were hung EVERYWHERE (at least where I was living at the time). Americans WERE united (note the past tense).

So maybe it could be argued that from 2002-2003 there was increased nationalism and patriotism in this country. Not so sure it's really representative of the whole decade though...

[Gormy Cuss]

78. What about the other events that increased nationalism and patriotism?

The timeline should be sprinkled with that note.

While one can argue about the dates of events on the timeline as moc did because the timeline does not label them with proper specificity, the inclusion of an effect of the event rather than just the event itself seems inaccurate. 9/11 should be on the timeline, "American Patriotism" as the label should not.

[eppur_se_muova]

35. When did WWII start? I always remembered the dates in the encyclopedia timeline...

which showed Japan invading China in 1931, and renewing its push inland in 1937. So I always thought of WWII as something that started in the Thirties, and mostly occurred in that decade. It always struck me as a bit strange to hear people talking about WWII taking place in the Forties, but that was after the declaration of war in Europe and the winter of the "Phony War". Of course US involvement was entirely in the Forties, and that's the only REAL history we pay attention to.

What they teach in school is a cartoon guide to history. But I can kind of understand why -- it's just too much to expect kids to grasp all that at once.

WWII didn't end in 1918, either.

[Hissyspit]

36. self-delete

[Hissyspit]

37. Might I suggest that you humbly suggest to them that for the timeline highlights of the 2000s...

they might list:

9/11

Biggest Fucked-up Military and Moral Debacle in U.S. History

[lonestarnot]

38. Hot diggity moc. I likes you!

:hug:

[Catherine Vincent]

39. That was so right on.

All parents should be like you. :thumbsup:

[Cha]

41. Thanks for standing up

for the truth in your red district, in your red state. :patriot: :patriot:

[truedelphi]

42. Ditto what they said. And glad you can get her out of that mix

And somewhere where Truth is represented a bit more evenly.

(As far as her sticking it out Here's my take: she is just a kid - school is hard enough - it's probably important that she feel good about what she is learning and not being belittled for
coming from a "non-patriotic" household)

[Ilsa]

43. Plano is home to alot of GOP sheep. They talk like each other,

dress like each other, drive the same SUV's, and all the houses look alike with mortgages up to their eyeballs. It doesn't surprise me that they bought into some Lynn Cheney-devised history course.

I really feel for you having to raise a child in that environment. (I used to live in D, almost downtown.)

[krkaufman]

44. Yeah, how about "Reactionary nationalism"? n/t

[krkaufman]

45. Gotta wonder what other "study guides" are slipping through.

(Much like the "Path to 9/11" mockudrama and its accompanying study guides that were distributed.)

[Greyhound]

46. I'm sure this crap happens in other places, but at least here on DU, it seems to be especially

concentrated in Texas and Florida, which leads me to ask, why? What's so demented about this 1/25th of our nation, that the extreme reich-wing seem to exercise total control from schools through every level of government?

[spoony]

47. Why couldn't it actually be about a "renewing of American unity"

at least in the immediate wake of the attack? We should be careful, in denouncing jingoism, to not condemn all patriotism. Some of it is positive, after all. And hell, I see lots of patriotism here. People working and hoping for a better country.

[Truth2Tell]

49. We decided that our daughter

would not attend any school where they recited the pledge of allegence or said a prayer. This left us with amazingly few options - even in a major metro area. It's well worth it though...

[orleans]

54. hey, welcome to DU. my daughter went all through public school

and wouldn't say the words "under god"

she's not one who enjoys drawing attention to herself, so it was a little difficult for her to do that--especially when she was in grade school.

(she has no problem with the flag just the religion)

is your daughter in high school? how did you ever find a school that says neither a prayer or the pledge? (years ago i attended a "free school" which was a private "alternative" school -- it was close to utopia! but that was in the 1970's and it's been defunked for years. unfortunately.)

[Truth2Tell]

81. She's just in preschool right now

She's 4. We found a very cool alternative private school - but it's lots of $$$ per year. Tough for us - too much $$$ for many I'm sure. Our issues are with the religion and the nationalistic indoctrination too. Repeating the same pledge over and over EVERY day? Creepy indoctrination.

[orleans]

84. preschools are doing the pledge? not in my neck of the woods

when my daughter was little.

she learned it in kindergarten, came home to tell it to me and left out the part "under god" and i thought it had finally been removed. (haha, i was wrong! that was just the part she forgot!)

[lildreamer316]

59. Welcome to DU! n/t

[UrbScotty]

50. Have you considered running for school board? (nt)

[july302001]

52. Stuff [i]did[/i] happen in the 1950s

Sputnik was launched in 1957 and the space race did start then. The Civil Rights Movement started with the Montgomery Bus Boycott during 1955. In addition, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 heralded the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

The teacher is correct about the timeline elements that have to do with the 1950s. Maybe most Americans were blase' and listening to Elvis back then, but these events were indeed unfolding at that time.

Too many people on this board idealize the 1960s and 'dis' other decades. While I certainly have lots of problems with things that happened during the late 1970s and 1980s (like Prop. 13 in California and the whole Reagan thing), I try to evaluate history as objectively as possible.

The only thing in your post with which I agree is that it is improper to associate patriotism "especially with 9/11." "Patriotism" started in 1776 and shouldn't be associated with much of anything that has happened since November 2000.

[sandnsea]

53. Republicans rewriting history

They do it all the time. It's how come people think Vietnam is why Democrats are called weak on defense - when they were lobbing that attack at Kennedy in 1960.

Looks like they've found a way to avoid talking about the 60's at all. It'll go from the Eisenhower and the 50's to Reagan winning the cold war to 9/11.

I'm really tired of people telling me I'm not being fair when I say they've always been shitheads.

[rainbow4321]

57. Here in Plano they re-write history as it's happening

My youngest was in a Plano elementary school during the first go-around with chimp's appointment to office in Nov 2000.

In the days following that (first) Black Tuesday I was glued to the TV and radio 24/7. I remember going to school to pick my daughter up and she would tell me that the teachers announced chimp was "now President"---it happened a few days in a row, whenever the courts would start to sway chimp's way..each time I would tell my daughter the same thing.."I've had the TV on all day at home, the radio on all the way here, there had been NO official announcement of Bush being put into office yet, it is still in the court system". Yet the teachers would tell the kids this and being the good little repukettes that most of them were, the kids were cheering and clapping at the news.
My daughter is in high school now and has actually **not** been harrassed by anyone at the school when she wears a Tshirt w/ a cartoon character of chimp w/ a crown on his head..underneath it says "Off with his head". The first time she wore it I kept waiting for the phone to ring, figuring it would be my daughter calling from the school office telling me to bring her another shirt. Never happened.
Doesn't mean that Plano/PISD is any less red nowadays, though. There are still plenty of mindless repuke sheep and their offspring around here!

[LibDemAlways]

56. Here in California it's all about teaching to state

"standards." My daughter has been working on a paper for US History and was a little confused about what was required as far as citing sources, so I e-mailed the teacher and asked if she was requiring footnotes as well as a bibliography. Her somewhat confusing answer was that she wanted parenthetical citations within the paper as well as a list of sources at the back but not footnotes because "footnotes are a high school standard."

I might as well have been talking to a robot.

The history text used in my daughter's district isn't too bad, except that I think the Clinton page was written by a freeper. It says that an investigation into Clinton's financial dealings led to the discovery of his "inappropriate relationship" with a White House intern and, ultimately, his impeachment. Relentless rightwing witch hunt is never even mentioned. Won't have to worry about the misinformation, though, because they'll never get that far. 5th, 8th, and 11th grade US History all begin with Columbus and end with Reconstruction. These kids are getting no recent history at all in school and no discussion of current events. And this in a "Blue Ribbon" School. It's all about making sure the kids can pass the standardized test. No time for critical thinking. Maybe that's a "high school standard," too, though I tend to doubt it.

[Irishonly]

77. It Isn't Easy Having a Child Attend School In California

Everything is standards. I have asked, "why wasn't this or that taught" so many times. They have to make sure they reach the benchmarks it's ridiculous. My daughter's high school is in the top thousand in the country and a blue ribbon also. My daughter is a junior and is well past Reconstruction.

They are getting closer to the start of the activism. My daughter was wondering if I was go to talk to the teacher again. Probably. My John Anderson Tshirt is in great shape so I am going to have her wear it to school one day soon.

[LibDemAlways]

80. I'm glad your 11th grader is learning that US History

didn't end after the Civil War. Many are not so fortunate.

Too bad there's no "current events" standard, as my 8th grader has never once been in a classroom (with the exception of 9/11 which was too big to ignore) when something happening in the world was discussed. The Standardized Tests are coming up in May, so now the "teach the test" mania is in full swing.

How my generation ever managed to succeed in life after sitting in classrooms where discussion of news events was the norm, debate was often lively, and state standards either didn't exist or weren't emphasized - is a mystery.

[ProudDad]

58. A really good class project for your daughter's class

would be to have all the kids use the internet and, if there is such a thing, the library to fact check the timeline.

Then they could write up a report for the school board, district, etc. detailing the errors and ambiguities.

Turn the lemon into lemonade.


On Edit: It's absurd to have points of time to denote when certain things happened.

The Civil Rights movement in this country started before the Civil War. Even the "modern" civil rights movement in the U.S. could be said to have begun with the NAACP lawsuits to overturn "separate but equal" begun in the 1930s.

The space race, hell you could begin that in the 30s with German rocket research and the first ICBMs -- the V2...

Etc, etc. It would be a marvelous learning experience...

[PurpleChez]

60. you DIDN'T go too far

That's all just "All Hail George W Bush" without coming out to say so. It's bullshit and you called them on it.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

61. WWII started in the 30s, jsut not for the US. Actually,

most honest historians view WWII as a continuation of WWI with a temporary respite, in great part due to the treaty france forced upon Germany.

[jazzjunkysue]

62. There are few schools in america willing to tell the truth on our history.

If you ever did in a public school, the administrators would drown in parent/church phone calls.

There are probably one or two private schools who tell the truth, but, they're probably so left-leaning, they might even distort history in their own direction.

We don't tell children about butchering indians: We put stupid feathers on their hats and pretend the indians and pilgrims had dinner together.

It's horseshit.

And I'm a public school teacher from NY>

I teach my daughter the truth when it matters.

[electron_blue]

63. Holy crap!

I'd have reacted pretty poorly I'm afraid. Keep us posted about this.

[smoogatz]

64. The dumbing down of the public schools is appalling.

Since when did "developmentally appropriate survey course(s) not focused on dates per se" take the place of teaching actual history? If they can't get the dates at least sequentially right, none of it will make sense. This explains why virtually none of the college freshmen I teach know even the most basic facts about American history and our political system--it's no longer taught in the public schools. You have to wonder what they hell they ARE teaching them--80% of the freshmen in my intro composition classes can't write a coherent sentence, either.

[momster]

71. What they are teaching

Sit Down.

Shut Up.

Fill in the Little Bitty Circles.

Use a Number 2 pencil.

Spelling Doesn't Matter.

Respond When the Bell Rings.

Appearance is More Important than Ability.

I said, Shut Up.

[MLFerrell]

87. "80% of the freshmen in my intro composition classes can't write a coherent sentence, either"

It ain't just the freshman, I'm sorry to say. College seniors too often can't write cogently either.

[MasonJar]

65. Go to the School Board. Maybe other parents do not even know

about this list. They always bend when some parent wants to ban a harmless book, so take them on and enjoy it. That's being a patriot! You are the patriotic one. And thank you.

[Sabien]

66. the struggle continues

Lies my Teacher Told Me
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868

[Mass]

67. I stopped asking questions about the American curriculum when I learned that the seven year war,

arguably the first world war as it was fought on 3 continents (Europe,Asia, and North America) and decided of the preeminency of the British on history for the next 150 years (after they heavily defeated the French), was called French and Indian War in US history books.

It is surprising to what point history is taught at a parrochial level which prevent kids to understand the rest of the world. Being a binational family, my sons get both sides of the story and often get in conflict with the official view taught in US books. (WWII did not start in the 1940s. The participation of the US in WWII did, though.).

[BlueGirlRedState]

68. I'm a Texan, a liberal AND I work for a textbook publisher

Doesn't make me a bad person, now does it?

Probably 95 percent of my co-workers are liberals, too, so there is no "plot" as some of the posters here allege by evil Texas publishers. Without knowing some of the facts -- who is the publisher, where did the chart come from (yes, teachers make up their own materials sometimes)? Publishers do fact check, some are doubtless are more diligent than others. I know our Social Studies editors do fact check, and the manuscript and finished chapters are reviewed by academics and classroom teachers all over the country.

But please, let's not all assume that cause you're from Texas, you must be a bad guy.

[tammywammy]

70. Welcome to DU!

I'm also from Texas. Be sure to check out the Texas Forum. :)

[a la izquierda]

72. Good grief!

Stating that dates aren't important is completely insane. I'm a T.A. in History at the Univ. of Oklahoma and while dates are not the aspect of history that I emphasize the most, I try and drill in my students head that you at least have to have the right decade. When things occur in history is absolutely crucial to understand what comes next.

This is the stuff that scares me about having kids. Thank goodness I don't have any yet, but sheesh. Idiotic school administrators make me ill.

[BlueGirlRedState]

73. Thanks, been here a long time

just don't post often although I read every day.

[cain_7777]

74. Your daughter needs to be in private school now not later

:yourock:

[Breeze54]

75. Texas often sets the agenda for classroom texts nationwide -- scary!!

http://www.tlpj.org/pr/texas_103003.htm

High School Students and Textbook Author Charge Texas State Board of Education Officials with Censorship

TLPJ Files First Amendment Lawsuit Against Board Members for Rejecting Environmental Science Textbook

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest law firm, filed a First Amendment lawsuit on October 30, 2003 in Dallas against Texas State Board of Education officials, charging that their November 2001 decision to reject an environmental science textbook for use in public high schools constitutes censorship in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment prohibits government officials from censoring speech because of the message or viewpoint it conveys. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to vindicate the free speech rights of the author, as well as tens of thousands of Texas public high school students who have been denied access to the textbook.

The textbook at the center of this lawsuit is "Environmental Science: Creating a Sustainable Future (6th Edition)" by Daniel D. Chiras, Ph.D., and published by Massachusetts-based Jones and Bartlett Publishers. The book has been widely used for over 20 years in top-tier universities including Baylor University in Waco and the University of Texas at Tyler. Despite the fact that Texas’ Commissioner of Education recommended adopting Dr. Chiras’ book, and that review panels of science professors at Texas A&M University and the Science Teachers Association of Texas had given the book high marks, the Board voted to reject the book.

"The Board’s rejection of this widely-used textbook was not based on any legitimate concerns for factual accuracy or curriculum fulfillment," said TLPJ lead counsel Steve Baughman Jensen of Dallas’ Baron & Budd, P.C. "The Board rejected the book because 10 of its 15 members disagreed with Dr. Chiras’ viewpoints on environmental and economic issues, views based on 30 years of scientific study. This lawsuit aims to expose this blatant censorship and end this unconstitutional behavior."

"Texas is one of the country’s largest textbook markets – second only to California
– and often sets the agenda for classroom texts nationwide.

---------------------------------------------------

Maybe you should run for the board of education?? :shrug:

[nealmhughes]

76. "History" or "Social Studies" at the fifth grade level are actually more a "cultural literacy"

course at that level until the kids are ready to go beyond mere dates, grasp historiography, geopolitics, etc. and then even as freshmen in college, only a few are prepared. I know, I taught HY 101 Western Civ for six semesters at a very large Tier II public university in the Southeast, and was apalled at the range of knowlege I considered "basic," such as the fact that Russia/USSR was the ally of the US and British Empire in both the World Wars against Gemany/Austria/Hungary! That the Republic in Israel was proclaimed in 1948 and was not a continuation of the House of David, that Israel was in Asia and almost in Africa, and not Europe and that Egyptians were Africans!
Doing the French Revolution, I counted myself lucky when the whole class did not occlude the status of peasants with those of game birds.

History is written by the victors -- or was until a very short time ago -- but even Vico in his New Science argued in the early 17th Century for an open mind and a cessation of transposition of cultural norms re: societies of which we are not now a part.

History and geography and political science are perhaps the most manipulated liberal arts in creation. Why? Becaue they are actually philosophy masquerading as literature of a "factual nature". . . and most people recoil at the thought of learning "philosophy" especially in this pragmatic anti-intellectual nation state.

[ljm2002]

79. Good for you for pointing it out to her

It is so unfortunate that history and Social Studies are woefully inadequate in our schools.

If it's any consolation -- when I was in high school (mumble) years ago, it wasn't much better, if better at all. History books recounted events through a veil of whitewash and omitted facts, and often it was the sports coach who was forced to teach this subject (presumably because they couldn't fake the other subjects) (and in my case yes, I had to endure a year of a basketball coach teaching history -- it's the only class I ever routinely nodded off during -- and that includes all classes up to and including college).

[catrose]

82. My ancestors came to Georgia...

...which I learned was a prison colony. The family legend is that our ancestress was pregnant by the king, but that would have been George III, which wasn't too likely. I didn't tell the aunts and grandmothers. Anyway, I hear a Brit say that his daughter came home from her American school and told him, "Our teacher says people came to America for freedom, and there weren't any prison colonies." He directed her to other history books without an axe to grind, but he and I were appalled at the blatant revisionism. I didn't realize it was creeping like a kudzu vine.

[SoCalDem]

83. Jingoism more than patriotism

I once pissed off a teacher, when I "red-penciled" two spelling errors in a hand written note she sent home, for me to sign :)

[Canuckistanian]

85. Amazing how they've redefined "patriotism" in their own terms

Namely, conformance to whatever George Bush says it is.

[Gabi Hayes]

86. sunday