Tag Archive for 'social studies'

Unacceptable is the New “Adequate”

Asked under oath in a deposition if science is ”part of an adequate education” in the state of Georgia, Joanne Leonard said “I think you can do without science.”  What about social studies? Is that part of a child’s ”adequate” education?  “I would want them exposed to social studies,” Leonard said, ”but I think they can succeed in the world without social studies, and that is my opinion, my personal opinion.”

Ms. Leonard’s deposition was taken in a lawsuit brought by rural Georgia schools, who say the state isn’t giving them enough money to provide the “adequate education” required under law.  Much of the case involves defining “adequate”  And who is Joanne Leonard? Only the state Department of Education’s Director of Accountability.

I’m trying to think of what the appropriate response to this should be from Georgians, but I can’t think of anything that doesn’t involve pitchforks and torches.  But I can think of something else Georgia can do without.

(HT: Joanne Jacobs)

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The Politics of History

Lawmakers in California have had a busy summer deciding what students in the Golden State should be taught in school.  A bill requiring that a 1946 court ruling on desegregation be added to the curriculum won strong support, as did a measure that adds the contribution of Filipino-American soldiers.  Legislation requiring lessons on the contributions of Italian Americans, Native Americans and the deportation of Mexican citizens during the Depression are pending. 

An editorial in one local paper makes sport of the whole miasma:

OK, boys and girls, please turn to page 151 of your state history book and skip down to the section on the contributions of Filipino-American soldiers in World War II. We were going to talk about the contributions of the Chinese, but seeing as how that isn’t mandatory, we’re going to take a pass.

Please be prepared immediately after recess to discuss Myanmar’s failure to adopt U.S. concepts of Democracy.  Yes, Jimmy, I know you’re only in fourth grade, but a bipartisan state Senate majority felt California students were getting way behind in their comparative political theory. And we wouldn’t want to argue with bipartisan state Senate majorities, now would we?

Fortunately, we will have time to go over our spelling words a couple of more times this week because the governor vetoed Senate Bill 908, which would have encouraged each California grade level to include a section on global warming.

“They all have merit,” concludes an editorial in the Contra Costa Times, “but it is not the job of individual legislators to alter the public school curriculum on a piecemeal basis. This is the purview of the state Board of Education.”

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The 10 Most Famous Americans in History

The February 3 USA Today reports on a study done by Sam Wineburg of Stanford University that will be appearing in the March issue of the Journal of American History. The study validates what I had to say in my article on “The Training of Idiots” in Where Did Social Studies Go Wrong? published by the Fordham Foundation. The top ten list of “the most famous Americans in US history,” compiled based on a survey of thousands of American high school students (who were told only to exclude presidents) is a sad commentary on the grotesque triumph of the PC (and celeb) culture in our schools and the larger society.

Rosa Parks #2? Harriet Tubman #3? Amelia Earhart? Oprah? Marilyn Monroe? I suppose we should be thankful that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears did not make the list! I am surprised that the Grimke Sisters did not come in at #3 and #4. I can think of no better evidence of how our k-12 social studies educators, thanks to the NCSS and other such organizations, have failed to give kids a sound, accurate, serious KNOWLEDGE of American history as opposed to racial and gender cheerleading.

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