Sure, students living in the nation’s capital don’t need to know how our government works.
The D.C. State Board of Education is proposing changes to graduation requirements from the system that would actually get rid of the current requirement that students take a U.S. government class, my colleague Emma Brown reported here. If approved, they would have to rely on the information they received in elementary and middle school.
Which is next to none.
On the last administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics, in 2010, only 24 percent of high school seniors scored on the proficient level, with knowledge deficiencies in areas including the U.S. Constitution, civil rights, immigration laws, and the court system. As for the eighth graders, less than half could identify the purpose of the Bill of Rights. When those scores came out last year, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that “we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education.”
Solution: Just do away with it. Then future adults won’t know what the Constitution says or what constitutes a violation of it.
Unfair statement of the day: Maybe they figured all the students needed to know was how to fill out direct deposit forms for government checks.
Considering what the curriculum is to begin with? Very little of Civics today has to do with our founding documents and structures, but has been given over to bashing American Democracy, demonizing the founders and praising entitlement programs as rights.
Since last week, my son’s Civics class has been viewing Bowling for Columbine as completely factual. In addition, the teacher’s lecture regarding the 2nd Amendment was inaccurate and highly biased. Any attempt by my son to point out the “issues” with Michael Moore and the 2nd Amendment have been met with threats of expulsion (just 78 days to graduation).
Below is one of the experts – I believe it is from the creators of South Park. Warning – this is NOT safe for work or anywhere else for that matter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4XPkwh2NkA
Have him slip a concealed video camera into that class and get some footage. Seriously.
Already have.
Yesterday’s segment was the attack on Lockheed’s facility and American Middle East policy. Teachers comments were quite heavy along the lines of “we made friends with these guys, then assassinate them”, not an inaccurate statement but severely lacking in context and background. Lots of information left out including the deposing of the Shah, the Iranian Hostage crisis, the genocides in Bosnia and Iraq, the invasion of Kuwait, the USS Cole Bombing, pop to mind right away.
And this is a Texas school district.
If y’all get anything good…
It’s funny. For 300 years, millions of people in this country fought and many thousands died to do away with slavery. Now, 150 years after slavery was abolished by one of the bloodiest wars in history, tens of millions are eagerly fighting to become wards of the state, in return for government cheese. The new slave masters live in Washington.
Think about it.
All the students need in order to get ahead in D.C. is a copy of the koran.