WHY CURRICULUM MATTERS, Take 2: Do you know what your children are
being taught?
Statement on Cengage, NewsELA, and Encyclopedia Britannica Resources
The May 16 U-46 BOE meeting will be held at 7 pm at 355 East
Chicago Street, Elgin, IL.
I am posting this because U-46 parents and citizens have a right
and a duty to know what is planned for instruction of their children before it
is approved by the BOE (Board of Education).
One of the three resources (NewsELA) on which the U-46 Board of
Education will be voting on May 16 (and which were discussed/presented to the
board on May 2) contains factual inaccuracies and a predominant leftist slant. One is more balanced (Cengage), and one
(Britannica) has problems I see, but they are not as overarching.
U-46 Board Policy 6.210 states
that instructional materials are to“present opposing sides of controversial
issues to encourage critical analysis of all media.”
I will cover each resource in turn:
1.
Cengage: I
am impressed with this resource. It includes opposing viewpoints, referencing news
sources such as “Spectator” and “National Review”, and “Christianity Today” in
addition to “Newsweek”, and “The Economist”, “The New Yorker”, “The New York
Times”, and “The New American”. Providing opposing viewpoints allows student to
form their own opinions and allows freedom of thought. This is the kind of balanced
resource I can support.
2.
NewsELA:
a. I voted YES for this resource
last year because at that time I was of the opinion that it was more balanced. I
am not sure whether my review was incomplete, or the resource has changed since
last year, but I have major objections this year. A teacher who is using this
resource also feels that this resource is predominately slanted toward the
left.
b. An article entitled, “Rude
Political Candidates Conflict with School Anti-Bullying Rules” asserts that “Democrats
do not spend their time insulting each other”, while Republican candidates do. No
mention of the endless insults Democrats generally hurl at Republicans. I guess
they forgot about Sarah Palin.
c. An article entitled “Chicago
teens confronted with new wave of Islamophobia speak up” includes stories from
three Muslim students. Although the students are obviously not terrorists, and
are saddened that people fear Islam, no discussion of the content of the
Qur’an, wherein Muslims are told to kill “people of the book” (i.e., Jews and
Christians), or other passages that teach that it
is the duty of Muslims to wage jihad
warfare until Islam and Shari’a law are supreme over the
entire world, is attempted. There is no discussion that the predominance of
terrorist attacks worldwide are made by radical Muslims, or the tendency that
when Muslims become more devout, they tend to become more violent. Other titles
on this subject include, “President visits US Mosque in an effort to increase
religious tolerance”, “After Paris massacre, American Muslims come under
attack”, “After attacks, headscarves mark Muslim women as targets”, and “Court
favors freedom of faith in ruling over Muslim job seeker’s headscarf” (too bad
Christians don’t enjoy the same freedom not to bake cakes).
d. An article for eighth graders in
Spanish only (I used Google Translate) pictures a transgender young man putting
on makeup with the following caption: “Cassidy Lynn Campbell , 16 , looks in
the mirror while she makes up in her room in Huntington Beach , California on
September 15 , 2013. Cassidy a transgender student at Marina High School in
Huntington Beach, is one of the 10 finalists for the title of prom queen in her
class.” The article goes on, “Sitting in the kitchen of her home and while
stroking her hair, she said: "This year, I'm a girl every
day".Cassidy has made a strong campaign on social networks to try to win
the [prom queen] crown...so she has joined the group, growing but still small, of
teenage transgenders seeking opportunity to revolutionize gender norms by participating
in a typical competition of the United States that has long been marked by
tradition and segregation of the sexes.” I think many U-46 parents might be uncomfortable with their 8th grader
learning about this topic. Other headlines along similar vein include, “Apple CEO announces he is gay and says that this does not
define his work (in Spanish only)”, “NBA player says he is gay, breaking major
US sports barrier”,“NJ’s governor signs bill banning conversion therapy for gay
children”, and “Supreme Court’s same sex marriage ruling cheered by many
nationwide”. An article on the controversy in North Carolina opens with, “North Carolina has been criticized for a state law that
discriminates against gay and transgender people.”
e. Although on article on minimum
wage presents pros and cons of raising minimum wage, there is no presentation
of the view that government should not be involved in setting minimum wage at
all. Other headlines along this vein include, “Fast food workers accuse some
employers of wage theft”, and “Obama
takes on income inequality in State of the Union Address”
3.
Britannica
a. Britannica does include links to primary sources, like The
Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Federalist Papers. It
does provide opposing viewpoints on many issues. Parents should pay attention
to this resource and discuss with their children closely. I do have some major
concerns though, as outlined in the next few points.
b. Britannica defines abortion as “is the termination of a pregnancy before the infant can
survive outside the uterus” and states further “The removal of
a developing embryo or fetus from the uterus is called an abortion. When
performed by medical doctors, abortions are safe for the woman and
relatively simple.” The fact is that abortions often occur AFTER the time when
an infant can survive outside the uterus. Stating that “abortions are safe and
relatively simple” is propaganda and not medical fact. Are we selling abortion
to our children?
c. Further on this topic, Britannica states “Until the 19th
century birth control information was available to few persons. Pioneers of
birth control faced hostile laws and often were imprisoned for merely
advocating birth control. In the United States Margaret Sanger began in 1912 her crusade against
restrictive birth control laws by publicly encouraging women to practice
contraception. …In 1921 Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, a
forerunner of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, established in 1942.” Notice
the equivalence painted between abortion and birth control. This also paints a
rather rosy picture of Margaret Sanger, who was a racist who believed in
eugenics and using abortion as a tool to limit black population growth.
d. Britannica presents the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which includes such rights as:
i.
“the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay” (Article
24), and “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the
event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack
of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are
entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out
of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.” (Article 25) — Does “all
children” include the preborn? There is no discussion in this Britannica
article of at whose expense all these “rights” are granted…
I will be voting “no” on NewsELA, and Britannica and “yes” on
Cengage.
