Hundreds of High Schoolers Walk Out to Protest Conservative Takeover of History Standards
The proposed curriculum changes downplay "social strife."
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September 24, 2014 |
As part of the long-running textbook wars over American school curricula, the Jefferson County Colorado Board of Education moved earlier this month to alter AP U.S. history standards to meet a more right-wing view of the world, emphasizing “patriotism” and the “free enterprise system” and downplaying “social strife.” Its proposal reads as follows:

Review criteria shall include the following: instructional materials should present the most current factual information accurately and objectively. Theories should be distinguished from fact. Materials should promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage. Content pertaining to political and social movements in history should present balanced and factual treatment of the positions.

What Board Chairman Ken Witt probably didn't expect is what happened next. Yesterday, hundreds of students from five high schools marched out of their classrooms and into the streets to reject the conservative board's proposal. Carrying signs such as “people didn't die so we could erase them,” the students demanded that the proposal be withdrawn.

To get a sense of the size of the protests, the local CBS station reported that 500 students walked out at a single high school, Arvada West High. That is about a third of the students at the school.

In addition to the mass student protests, teachers have been leading actions as well. Last week, as many as 50 teachers at Standley Lake and Conifer high schools staged a sickout to protest the new standards, forcing classes to be canceled.

As both teachers and students continue to speak out, it appears that by attempting to suppress history curriculum that includes information about social strife and protest, Witt is ironically creating it, and teaching an entire nation of its value.

Watch a report from 7 NEWS about the hundreds of students who protested yesterday.


Zaid Jilani is the investigative blogger and campaigner for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. He is formerly the senior reporter-blogger for ThinkProgress.

I never enjoyed history.

I think its just a way of promoting universal morals and ethics(by explaining FACTS with spin)


I think it should be an elective and be offered in many different varieties,,, like European, or African, or latino,,etc,,depending upon the demographics being taught in that school region,,,

?!?

Conservatives want to ban mentioning The Constitution to students?!? Or, they just want to abandon the 1st Amendment...







...while preserving the sanctity of the 2nd Amendment, of course.

#1... They haven't even voted on this yet.

#2... The protests are also over an evaluation based system for teachers raises.

#3... This proposed change is only for Advanced Placement History, so that means 95% of the students in these schools will see no change to their progressive indoctrination.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26588432/jeffco-high-school-students-plan-walk-out-theirhttp://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26588432/jeffco-high-school-students-plan-walk-out-their

ThinkProgress (wonder who/what made him leave there?Not Left enough,or not enough Spin?)!
Says it all!

Seems he got his Butt fired!
Too controversial even for Soros!