Education Issues

[Soon]

There was some discussion about USA textbooks in another thread, and I thought it might be good to have a thread where opinions and articles that pertain to educational issues (good, bad, USA or otherwise, grade school, secondary, post-secondary) might be addressed.

[Soon]

Virginia Delegate David Englin Proposes Legislation To Fix School Textbooks



After one textbook's inaccuracies garnered significant media attention in October, Virginia Delegate David Englin (D-Alexandria) is proposing legislation to get school primers properly proofed.

The Washington Post reported that Englin's bill would hold publishers accountable and require them to prove review of textbooks by subject-area specialists. He said the state of public education is at stake.

"As a legislator and a parent, I was shocked and appalled to learn that Virginia social studies textbooks had such egregious factual inaccuracies. As parents, the bare minimum we expect from textbooks is that the facts are correct."
"Our Virginia: Past and Present," published by Five Ponds Press, was released during the fall to thousands of Virginian students. Although vetted by textbook review committees, it included a variety of errors, from wrong dates to misspellings.

One section of the textbook tells students that thousands of African Americans fought as confederate soldiers during the Civil War, a statistic that is not validated by mainstream historians.

Carol Sheriff, a professor at William & Mary, told CNN that the mistakes weren't just inaccurate, but irresponsible.

"It is the equivalent of holocaust denial being taught in public schools but worse. It's also equivalent to saying the Jews helped the Holocaust."

[Jess]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ans...l?hpid=topnews


I think this is the article that got Englin started

[Soon]

In Florida, Virtual Classrooms With No Teachers

[Soon]

Another Anoka-Hennepin School District Fail: Lesbian Couple Banned From Pep Rally Earns A Lawsuit + A Settlement

Read more: http://www.queerty.com/another-anoka...#ixzz1CfwSgdg4

[Soon]

Proposed bill may quiet conversation on homosexuality

For most elementary school students, the issue of sexuality may barely register on their radars. But it may be this season's political hot topic.

A proposed bill in the Tennessee Legislature wants to spell out how schools can introduce sexuality - and only heterosexuality - to your child. It's sponsored by State Sen. Stacey Campfield and Rep. Bill Dunn - both Republicans from Knoxville.


At the heart of the bill is a move to prevent children in elementary and middle schools to have classes that discuss sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.

Gay rights activists say it's a ploy to further discriminate against them.
Those who support the bill say it's about having age appropriate curriculum.

"You're looking at legislation that is going to make sure that when you are talking about sexuality with students that it is age appropriate," said Matthew Parsons, a father of seven children and founder of the group "Something Better."

He says he's in favor of the proposed bill that avoids talking about homosexuality to kids so young.

"If we're talking about homosexuality, we are talking about specific acts that are going to be unhealthy for anybody to engage in outside of marriage."

The bill, known as House Bill 229 or Senate Bill 49, says in part: "No public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality."

At least one group says that's anti-gay - and calls it the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

"The Don't Say Gay bill raises all kinds of issues about anti-gay bias, free speech and government overreach," said Ben Byers with the Tennessee Equality Project.

The group recently received $10,000 from the Human Rights Campaign to fight what they consider negative legislation in Tennessee, including HB 229.

"It limits what teachers and students are able to discuss in the classroom," Byers said. "It means they can't talk about gay issues or sexuality even with students who may be gay or have gay family."

Both Byers and Parsons agree it's a parent's job to talk to their children about sex but disagree on if homosexuality should be a part of that conversation.

Sen. Campfield's office released the following statement about the bill:
"It's the family's responsibility and not someone with an agenda - one way or the other. The bill is neutral. We should leave it to families to decide when it is appropriate to talk with children about sexuality - specifically before the eighth grade."

The Tennessee Equality Project says there are ways to discuss human sexuality without politicizing the issue in the classroom.
The group also says there is no curriculum in Tennessee that discusses sexuality in grades K-8 so the bill is not needed.

Both Byers and Parsons say they will be watching how the bill progresses.