By FITSNews || We rarely fly off the handle over stuff we read on FOX News, but today our “inner wing-nut” is coming out.
Why?
Well, it involves a story we were sent about the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (how’s that for an Orwellian-sounding bureaucracy), which is proposing that a huge chunk of American history be removed from the Tar Heel state’s high school curriculum in favor of a “global studies” course heavy on environmental propaganda.
From FOX:
As the North Carolina curriculum stands now, ninth-grade students take world history, 10th-graders study civics and economics and 11th-graders take U.S. history going back to the country’s founding.
Under the proposed change, the ninth-graders would take a course called global studies, focusing in part on issues such as the environment. The 10th grade still would study civics and economics, but 11th-graders would take U.S. history only from 1877 onward.
Amazing.
These people are trying to erase America’s roots in exchange for the “New Socialism” of the climate change crowd.
Forget the Bill of Rights … let’s all brush up on the Copenhagen Accord, right?
And this is happening in North Carolina?
Sheesh …
By political hack February 5, 2010 at 10:52 am
1877 onward? Soon the kids will think the carpetbaggers were the first people in control of their state. Sadly, this has been going on for awhile. Even if they started American history from 1607 or 1492 much of what is in history books from even those dates is diluted or propogandized to make us look like imperialistic racist polluters, but that is certainly the goal…
By Another Opinion February 5, 2010 at 10:54 am
Regardless of all, there is no denying the fact that the environment is suffering terribly. That is fact and there is plenty of evidence to support that fact. I have no issue with this new curriculum.
Kids and college students need to be taught how to manage their finances as well.
However, they should not sacrifice our history for it.
If they do, I am prepared to teach my child the missing part myself. I’ve been doing it for years in history and other areas of my child’s studies.
By Seymour Glass February 5, 2010 at 11:14 am
@ Another Opinion,
Where does it state that children will be learning to manage finances? If the trade-off was history for financial management, I can’t imagine anyone raising a ruckus. In fact, that would be a sound plan with obvious benefits. However, when eliminating US history for some slanted, half-baked look at global policies is ludicrous. Trade global policies for Home Economics or Art… it should be an elective, not a core study area.
By CNChapin February 5, 2010 at 11:30 am
“Another Opinion,” you might want to try to stretch your sphincter a little. I think it is cutting off blood flow to your head.
There are NO agreed-to “facts” that the “environment is suffering terribly.” Just because you declare it to be so does not mean that it is so. Even if it was “fact” what the hell does it have to do with HISTORY anyway!? Want to try to teach it in an “environmental science” class? Well, I might be able to see that as long as the “environmental science” class is NOT a required course, but to teach it in a HISTORY class is just insanity typically only reserved for those who think that 12 Monkeys was a documentary.
Furthermore, MY tax dollars should NEVER be allowed to fund the perpetuation of political bias in the classroom. If a teacher is discovered to be perpetuating ANY political ideology on the captive and forced subjects that are students, they should be fired immediately with NO pension and no further benefits. I find this to be utterly disgusting to exploit children in this way. If you don’t mind your children being exploited for the gain of a political ideology, then I am repulsed by you.
By Liberty For Me February 5, 2010 at 11:50 am
There is only on true answer..Abolish government schools and the dept of education!….Dont screw around with policy.Demand we control our kids lives.
By D_Loki February 5, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I too was stunned and outraged when I heard this story so I dug a little further. What I found is that the Fox story is a little incomplete this time. Yes, a global studies class is replacing a history class in the 8th grade. Yes, 11th graders will study US History from 1865 to Present. However the incomplete part is that the NC School Board is attempting to spread American history education out over the course of years 4 through 12. Instead of cramming 200 plus years of history into three or four grade levels, they are planning to equalize the history throughout an eight year span. 4th graders will begin to study NC history, 5th graders will be taught early American history from colonization through revolution. 7th graders will study how technology has changed NC and the US through history and they will explore how conflicts over taxation, land ownership or race led to such events as the American Revolution, 8th graders will be studying the new Global Studies course which will examine U.S. role in global conflict resolution, 10th graders will study in depth Colonial America and what lead to the American Revolution through the Civil War, and 11th graders will, as the article stated, explore US History from 1865 forward. Normally I usually take news on face value and rely upon myself to find the facts when I am disturbed by a story of government run awry. This time Fox News fell short in reporting the whole story.
By Darth February 5, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Wellll… les’see hyah. The flat earth defenders of Darwin, a geocentric universe and Gore’s faked data based global warming are off to Stalinist revisionism agin? WTF, no one in NC reads annyhow, othe r than the carpetbaggers an maybe carpet munchers.
By Billy Bob February 5, 2010 at 1:01 pm
D_Loki – Fox News incomplete? Wow, what a discovery. It’s as unfair and imbalanced as this ether rag! Actually WORSE as it has an audience that includes a lot of mis-informed people with enough education to be dangerous.
By T4 February 5, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I love how the “conservatives” snap at the first mention of global warming. So defensive and angry because they fail to substantially disprove it, no matter how many reports on Fox News they hear, haha.
By Cooter Brown February 5, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Whuts so supprisin’ here? Dey’s bin brain-warshin’ our yung’uns heer in Dixie since reconstructshun days!
Why doe ye think Mista Willie iz obsessed wit race an’ makes fun ov hiz own people?
Control da pass, contol da future. Y’all eva red 1894, I means 1984?
By Tom February 5, 2010 at 5:09 pm
D Loki needs to examine these documents with a closer eye. I too have read these documents. Most students become capable of higher level thinking by 7th grade. What is the most aggregious is the obvious political agenda written into the goals and objectives. It is no coincidence the progressive era begins around when the course begins.
By CivicsTeacher February 5, 2010 at 9:04 pm
I currently teach Civics & Economics in North Carolina, and was asked to review and give feedback on the newly proposed curriculum drafts. I appreciate the fact that it has gained so much attention, and I would like to comment on a few items.
It is true that US History will begin no earlier than 1877. I believe this to be the first and biggest mistake by the Department of Instruction. The claim that students will have mastered the concepts of early American history by the end of 8th grade (when they finish the required NC History course) is ignorant and unfounded. My 10th graders struggle to master the concept of Federal vs. state government by the end of my course.
Civics & Economics currently teaches American history from colonization through the Constitutional Convention and Bill of Rights. This makes it easy and logical for us to transition right into the three branches of government, followed by state & local governments, the judicial system, and economics. @Another Opinion is correct in asserting that our students must learn about personal finances. The state of North Carolina currently mandates that Civics teachers offer a certain number of instructional hours on this topic, but there is nothing in our current curriculum to address this area. The new curriculum does have several objectives which teach about “creditworthiness” and personal finance, which I count as a good thing.
My other main concern with these new proposals is with the “Global Studies” course. Apparently there will no longer be a World History course for our students. Instead, I will be required to begin teaching 9th graders about post-1945 democratic regimes. That means they will no longer learn about the ancient foundations of our own form of government – Rome and Greece. There is nothing about the World Wars that shaped today’s society. There is nothing in “Global Studies” (or US History, for that matter) about the Cold War. The new curriculum says I should teach topics like the Second Sudanese Civil War, and deforestation.
I will leave you with the following thoughts. I became a teacher so that I could encourage students to think. My students know nothing of my own political ideology. They do not know who I voted for in the last election, what religion I observe, or if I agree with the death penalty. I am uncomfortable with the direction this new curriculum will force me to teach. The goal of education should never be to assert my opinion upon my students – conservative, liberal, or in between. The goal of education should be to encourage higher level thinking from our students. I am not convinced that these proposed documents meet that goal, and I would encourage any tax-paying resident of North Carolina to view the proposals at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/phase2/
By Another Opinion February 5, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Seymour Glass,
Nowhere did it state anything about kids learning to finance. I was simply stating that they should. I stated it because with our economy in tatters, they had best understand the importance of money and how to manage it.
By steeeev February 5, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Hi D_Loki, where did you get your info? I am trying to get to the bottom of the story.
By CivicsTeacher February 6, 2010 at 6:20 pm
If you go to the website I liked to in my previous post, each of the curriculum drafts are there for the public to read. That is where you can get this information.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/phase2/
@Another Opinion, I was merely agreeing with your idea that students should study personal finance, and pointing out that the state of North Carolina also agrees because they have included it in the newly revised curriculum. It is there for the public to read. I count this as a good thing.
@D_Loki, you have misinterpreted a source somewhere along the way. Currently, 10th graders do study colonization through Revolution in depth – I know this because I teach 10th grade Civics & Economics in North Carolina. The new proposals, however, cut this vital history out of the curriculum completely, and do not add it to another grade level. The state has also cut out everything prior to 1877 from US History, according to the new proposals.
Please, go read the actual curriculum they are proposing.
By Jimmy L. Shirley Jr. February 7, 2010 at 3:59 pm
In my considerable opinion, all high schools across the country aught to have a whole class, required, devoted to the War For Southern Independence. Our whole system of government was changed, for better or worse, as a result of this conflict. Therefore it is imperative this topic should be thoroughly examined. With just one requirement: one semester to be devoted to the Southern side of the story, one semester devoted to the yankee side. The yankee side is easy enough to get the necessary materiel. There are plenty of Southern-oriented societies/organisations by which the Southern perspective can be obtained.
This is my opinion and I am sticking to it!
By Brian February 10, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Before you light the torches and grab the pitchforks, why don’t you people actually find out what’s going on? The “global studies” course with the supposed environmental propaganda is replacing a World History course in the 9th grade. There’s no relation here to the Founding Fathers being cut out of the 11th grade American history.
And if you want to call this liberal brainwashing or whatever, how do you explain electives like Latino and Native-American studies being phased out while a Cold War elective is brought in?
Yes, I agree that only studying U.S. history from 1877 on is stupid and dangerous, as a large part of the populace has an elementary at best understanding of history (I’m looking at you, Tea Party). As long as the other courses (like Pol./Econ.) take up the slack, this could be knee-jerk reactionism. Of course, I prefer adding a fourth high school history course which would easily remedy this problem.
Attack the proposal where it’s justified, or better yet read it.