As a student in Tucson Unified School District I have no clue what the hell they’re talking about with promoting revolution. Then again I have no idea what this ethnic studies program is, but I have a feeling “revolt against the US and secede” isn’t part of the curriculum.
The entire point of multiple classes focusing on other countries was about seeing the good and the bad in them (Sophmore year we took Honors (all our of our non-AP classes are Honors by default) Multicultural and Minority literature for English and a choice between AP European History, AP Comparative Politics, Honors Latin America, and Honors Asia + Africa for history). Maybe they also hate our AP US Government classes for teaching us how utterly insane, greedy, and/or devious some of our bill passing motives and “perfect” leaders were? (Would they prefer we don’t know what pork-barrel and christmas tree legislation is?)
Also if you read further one of the people they interviewed said it was vague and overbroad legislation, which, though par for the course, gives it a nice chance to be shot down (or at least overturned in court as I’m fairly certain someone will challenge it eventually if it passes).
Even if it was, if the students actually managed to rise up and overthrow the government it would be the first time US public schools managed to teach anything.
John Ford is only for advanced students. Regular level students will be learning from Wild, Wild, West and GunSmoke. Multicultural students will be introduced to the curriculum in a culturally sensitive way via spaghetti westerns.
Or you know, it means what it actually says, which is that no courses which promote dissent from religious tolerance and democracy will be offered in public schools.
They’re not suddenly going to stop teaching about the Bolshevik Revolution. The bill would prevent teachers from endorsing or encouraging Bolshevik-style socialism. Does that really bother you, or do you think a bunch of you might be overreacting a little bit?
I don’t happen to agree with the part about banning race-based organizations, but it’s not exactly something worth announcing the sky is falling about. Why should public tax money go to organizations that descriminate based on race, anyway?
I beg your pardon? Can you not fucking read? I’ll have none of your fucking paraphraseology. You complain that people aren’t using the bill’s own text, then when it’s presented to you on a fucking plate, you fucking ignore it? Fuck that. I repeat:
This quite explicitly says that you cannot even teach as a separate subject those modes of thought that are considered contrary to American ideals (whatever the fuck those are). This means I am not even allowed to tell you about Communism without leavening it with a nice capitalist homily, lest it corrupt your fragile little mind.
I will happily concede that your mind appears to be more fragile than most, but I maintain that this is not an observation on which to base education law.
Wow the teachers at my school would die, iirc a few of the classes had entire UNITS dedicated to non-captilist and non-constitutional federal republic with strong democratic influnce™ systems. It didn’t promote them, it simply said “here’s how it works, heres the pros and cons, heres where it tended to work/not work and why it collapsed (or remained as long as it did).”
You seriously need a reading comprehension course. As written, the law would prevent funding of any course that studies groups or philosophies that might be considered anti-western or anti-democratic.
Presumably that would include courses of study such as why the South initiated the Civil War, or a comparative religion class comparing, say, early Catholics vs Moslems. The Catholic church in particular is anti-democratic.
And most European history before the French revolution – clearly they favored monarchy. So while it might be a part of Wetern civilization, it was also opposed to American values. We rebelled against it, afterall. Maybe courses like this should only lose half their money.
Comparitive religion courses don’t tend to pop up so I doubt that’s much of a worry, it tends to excite the parents and cause a slew of long, expensive First Ammendment (entanglement) cases. As such, teachers and the administration generally avoid it.
Really the only big issue I see with the part quoted by Badger is the “features as an exclusive focus” part. Without that it would simply say “don’t assert your beliefs and doctrines on the malleable minds of our children mmkay?” (Though I’d rather this include American ideals and let children form their own pictures on education instead of what teachers tell them but whatever) With it we have an issue of what you listed, at least until it reaches the AzSC.
The whole idea confuses and pisses me off, but the complaint I can best articulate is this:
If students can make no groups based in whole or part on their race, what does that do to groups that are about music or dance or religion of their race? A Polynesian drum and dance group, for instance, or a Indian/Native American student organization? What about groups for exchange students? What if there’s an Arabic student group dedicated to improving Arabic-Western relations starting at the university level?
I go to a university that has a yearly Culture Festival (and I generally volunteer at the International Show portion of it), which could not exist without the support of the student groups that are generally based on race or nationality. Another branch of the university has a Polynesian dance and drum club that performs amazing hakas around the state. Maybe it’s different in Arizona, but none of those groups seem to be a threat to America here in Montana.
I think any bill that bars students from learning is bad bill indeed, but this nearly takes the cake.
