Thread: North Carolina Schools May Cut Chunk Out of U.S. History

North Carolina Schools May Cut Chunk Out of U.S. History Lessons

Wednesday, February 03, 2010
By Molly Henneberg

He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877.

State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth.

"We are certainly not trying to go away from American history," Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told Fox News. "What we are trying to do is figure out a way to teach it where students are connected to it, where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day."

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.

Math, science and English classes are also getting an update.

Critics say the state's decade-old high school curriculum may need an update — but not like this.

"The answer isn't to throw out fundamental portions of U.S. history," said Mike Belter, a U.S. history teacher and social studies director. "This is not preparing our kids to have a deep historical perspective that can be used to analyze modern events for themselves."

Educational policy analyst Terry Stoops agrees.

"I'm all for a global outlook, but it should not be at the expense of American history and learning about American institutions and ideas," he told Fox News.

But those considering the proposal say kids will still learn the basics.

"The students are in school for 13 years," said Garland. "They certainly are taught U.S. and North Carolina history in middle school."

Garland says they're making this curriculum revision process very public to get as much feedback as possible.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584758,00.html

These idiots should not be allowed near a school. They want to cut out some very important stuff.....like the writing of the CONSTITUTION, SLAVERY, THE BIRTH OF OUR COUNTRY, and so much more....almost too much for one measley little post. How can they "connect" to history without learning the foundation of our history. How can they get the full effect of later US History if they dont have a clue about early US History. Does this mean that kids will graduate from high school without knowing who was the first president? (sigh)

Our work is cut out for us. We must pass school vouchers and privatize education. Otherwise, we're going to have nothing but a future generation of polar bear counting socialist globalists bowing to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, never having known they were Americans. I anticipate they'll stop using the term Americans in our life-times if we don't stop this madness now.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

"What we are trying to do is figure out a way to teach it where students are connected to it, where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day."

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, and I don't remember what great accomplishments Rutherford B. Hayes made to this country that history should begin there.
Thanks, JD2. Will lose a night of sleep composing my letter to the pseudo authorities making these decisions. What is in their water supply? Or perhaps they just didn't stay awake when they studied history in school until they woke up when it got to Hayes.

I have been a teacher for 14 years. Ironically, schools are the dumbest places to work. You would think that schools would foster thinking, analysis and synthesis-but they don't-it's too much of a threat.

They are trying to replace the founding principles of our American nation with the false religion of Globalism.

W

The NEA has got to go. Every time I turn around our country is being attacked.