A
Review of the StudySync ELA (English Language Arts) Curriculum Resource
U-46 Board Policy 6.210 states that “The Board of
Education is legally responsible for the selection of instructional materials
and delegates to…the District the authority for the selection. Instructional
materials [should]…4) present opposing sides of controversial issues to
encourage critical analysis of all media.”
Last July I expressed my objections to the
“StudySync” resource for English Language Arts (ELA), as there was a pervasive
one-sided view presented. This year the proposal is to expand StudySync as the
resource for all students in grades 11-12 (there will be a vote on Monday June 20 at
the 7 pm BOE meeting – 355 East Chicago Street, Elgin). I have reviewed this resource again, and
again come to the same conclusion. In short, there are pervasive leftist views
and factual inaccuracies presented regarding the meaning of liberty and our
country’s founding documents, government entitlements, gender differences,
socialism, leftist social causes,
evolution, and global warming.
Here are a just a few of my objections:
Re: Understanding Liberty/2nd Amendment/Founding
Documents:
·
An article entitled, “Liberty and Justice for All”
presents the far left SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) and ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union) as organizations that “fight for people who lack the
power to fight for themselves” and “make sure that the United States adequately protects the
civil liberties of all its citizens” (Apparently that doesn’t include
Christians).
·
An article entitled, “Inalienable Rights” focuses on
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR (with a passing mention of
the Constitution and Declaration of Independence), with no mention that
“Inalienable Rights” come from God, and no discussion of from whose hand the
laundry list of rights in the UDHR (which include free health care and the right
to leisure time) are supposed to come.
·
An article entitled “Reading Between the Lines”, asks,
“How literally should we interpret and follow the foundational documents of the
United States?”, subtly leading students to the conclusion that times have
changed and so should the interpretation of the Constitution.
·
An article entitle, “Three-Dimensional World” quotes
Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and
questions the value of 3-D printing because guns can be 3-D printed.
·
Articles entitled “Apple vs. the FBI” and “Keeping
Tabs” ask how much privacy we are willing to sacrifice for security. There is
no discussion of whether giving up privacy can keep us safe; the issue is
framed so as to present either security or privacy but not both.
Re: Gender Differences
·
An article entitled “On Edge” praises California
public schools which “allow students to play on the sports teams of the gender
they identify with”(no discussion of the “fairness” of allowing someone who is
biologically male to compete in sports with someone who is biologically
female). The article also presents the bogus statistic that “between 2 and 5%
of the population is transgender”, when in fact it is 0.3%. Another article
entitled “Gender Power” states that “a Colorado school district was found to have
discriminated against a first grader who wanted to use the girl’s bathroom
because she was born a biological boy”. Let me say that again for emphasis:
“SHE was born a biological BOY.” That sentence is an implicit denial of
reality. Furthermore, to encourage a first grade boy to believe he is a girl
and to treat him as such is child abuse.
·
An article entitled “Girls, Boys, and Toys? How do
toys influence behavior” laments the fact that boys and girls play with
different toys (as if there are no appropriate differences between boys and
girls).
·
An article entitled “Making Change” states that :
“among all the currency circulated in America, women have only been featured on
three coins—and only on rarely used ones, like the silver dollar. Both women
and African-Americans have been treated as lesser citizens in American
history.” It’s factually inaccurate that women have only been on coins in
America. In the 1800’s, Martha Washington was
on the $1 bill.
Re: Glorifying Socialism and Leftist Social Causes:
·
An article entitled, “Labor Leader” praises Dolores
Huerta, a known
socialist (see link provided for the
counterpoint). The questions asked of students in the article are one-sided and
leading, without considering an opposing view: “What
do you think? Had you heard of Dolores Huerta before? Do you think she deserves
more attention for her work? Have any of her contributions affected your own
life? How has Dolores Huerta fought for people’s rights?” Notice there are no
questions engaging students to think critically about unionization.
·
Articles entitled “Wage Woes” and “Wage War” debate
higher or lower minimum wages but leave out the possibility that government
should not be in the business of setting wages. What could be presented (but
isn’t) is the comparison between the free market and government regulated
wages: In North Dakota’s oil boom, McDonalds workers were receiving over $20
an hour absent any government mandates on wages.
Re: Factual inaccuracies about the theory of
evolution:
·
An article entitled “Fascinating Fossils” claims
that Archaeopteryx is the link in the fossil record between birds and
reptiles. There is much debate about this even among evolutionists (see here and here for opposing views). The article further claims that birds
are reptiles. This is factually inaccurate. Birds are NOT reptiles (they are
not cold blooded) and neither are they mammals (no mammary glands) but instead
belong to a group all their own. (The five groups of vertebrates include fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).
Re: Lack of understanding concerning the role of
government/global warming propaganda:
·
An article entitled, “Stay Cool” presents the
assumption that it is the role of government to help people pay their cooling
bills (oh, and by the way, “scientists have shown temperatures are going to
continue to rise”. The weather can scarcely be predicted from day to day and
yet scientists somehow know that temperatures are going to continue to rise).
In summary, as last year, I cannot support the
StudySync resource and will be voting no because of the pervasive leftist bias
regarding the meaning of liberty and our country’s founding documents, government
entitlements, gender differences, socialism, leftist social causes, evolution, and global
warming.
