From the Radio Free Michigan archives

ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot

If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to
bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu.
------------------------------------------------


=================================================
The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
=================================================
America's Future, Inc.
Behind The Headlines
November 1994


             EDUCATION STANDARDS TRASH AMERICANISM
             +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Education standards sound like an idea whose time has come. But
a great deal depends on who creates the standards and what
they say. If today's "politically correct" revisionists get their
way, the ideals of Americanism will be out the school window. 

  When Congress and President Clinton enacted the Goals 2000
education legislation a year ago, many analysts saw new openings
for mischief makers. One area of the bill that came under
particular scrutiny was the call for national standards in
education on everything from students' achievements to how to teach 
various subjects. 

  Quite apart from the issue of whether the federal government
should be involved in such matters at all, the idea of standards in
education seems like a good one. There should, for example, be a
minimum base of knowledge that all students would acquire during
their school years, including due respect for our free institutions
and their historical backgrounds. The problem is that to some
people in the education establishment, being "politically correct," is
more important than just what is being taught. 

  Consider what Lynne Cheney reported recently in the Wall Street
Journal. Cheney, former head of the National Endowment for
the Humanities, reviewed the proposed standards for teaching
history, and stated simply, they are appalling. In 31 standards,
for example, the Constitution is not even mentioned. 

  The governing document of the United States does appear in the
supporting material, according to Cheney, but only to be
obliquely criticized. Students, it says, should "ponder the paradox
that the Constitution sidetracked the movement to abolish
slavery...."

  It may indeed be argued that one of the Constitution's flaws was
its failure to fully address the slavery issue. Yet, as a charter
for democratic government, it has no equal in all of history.
Apparently, that's not worth teaching, according to history
standards under consideration by Washington's "educrats." 

  Cheney points out that the proposed standards reserve their
praise for minorities and the Third World. Students are encouraged,
for example, to "analyze the achievements and grandeur of Mansa
Musa's court, and the social customs and wealth of the kingdom
of Mali." But when America's free enterprise system is discussed in
the history standards, the language and tone are a little
different.  Consider how the standards treat John D. Rockefeller, one of
America's foremost industrial leaders and philanthropists. Students
are instructed to conduct a "trial" in which Rockefeller is accused of
"knowingly and willingly participat(ing) in unethical and amoral
business practices designed to undermine traditions of fair and
open competition for personal and private aggrandizement in direct
violation of the common welfare." Granted, Rockefeller was a
ruthless business competitor. But how many museums and university
departments owe their existence to his generosity?

  Cheney also notes that "counting how many times different
subjects are mentioned in the document yields telling results." For
instance, Paul Revere, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Albert
Einstein, Jonas Salk and the Wright Brothers are not
mentioned at all in the history teaching standards. But the
American Federation of Labor gets nine mentions. And Senator Joseph
McCarthy, whose zealous pursuit of communists in government earned
him notoriety in the 1950's, was mentioned 19 times, none
favorably. 

  This diatribe of political correctness is attributed to an
allegedly academic organization, the American Historical
Association (AHA). Members of this group threatened to boycott the
standard-setting process if Western civilization, in their mind,
was unduly emphasized. As Lynne Cheney reports, the AHA "hijacked the
standards-setting." If the mind-numbing teaching proposals go
forward in the public schools, our students will be the losers. Also our
free society.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Behind the Headlines, written by Philip C. Clarke, is a syndicated
column distributed by America's Future. It is available to
interested newspapers and other
publications on a gratis basis as a service of this non-profit
educational organization. For more information, please write or
call Mr. John Wetzel, c/o America's Future
Inc., P.O. Box 1625, Milford, Pa. 18337 (717) 296-2800.

     ===================================================================
        The above text comes from The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
     (long distance callers require manual upgrade, usually within hours)
     ===================================================================
        To subscribe to FWIW simply send the following:
        To: listserv@earth.execpc.com
        Subj: (leave blank)
        Message:
        subscribe fwiw

        That's it!  The welcome letter will tell you more!
     ===================================================================

------------------------------------------------
(This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the
Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer.


All files are ZIP archives for fast download.

 E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)