Teacher sues over limits on history curriculum

[hyphenate]

Thursday, December 4, 2003

Teacher sues over limits on history curriculum
Associated Press


A seventh-grade social studies teacher in Presque Isle who said he was barred from teaching about non-Christian civilizations has sued his school district, claiming it violated his First Amendment right of free expression.

Gary Cole of Washburn, a teacher at Skyway Middle School, sued School Administrative District 1 in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Cole alleged that complaints by "a small group of fundamentalist Christian individuals" led to the creation of a curriculum "which never mentions religions other than Christianity and never teaches the history of civilizations other than Christian civilizations."

"He can't even teach the history of anti-Semitism (or the) history of ancient Greece," said Cole's lawyer, A.J. Greif of Bangor.

more.....
http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/031204teachersues.shtml

[sistersofmercy]

1. I would like to see more lawsuits like this!

I had the most amazing history teacher, she taught us a great deal about how the US and its history relates to the world.

[greyl]

2. Go Gary!

Man, it's ridiculous and outrageous that this lawsuit needs to be brought.

Gary Cole is B.

[TolstoyAndy]

12. greyl, are you talking about Daniel Quinn?

I've never been the same since reading Ishmael and the Story of B.

The basic idea (for those who don't have any idea why I'm hijacking this thread) is that our intensive agri-culture has made everything else on earth our enemy (in our minds), but that we don't have to live this way.

It's not "humanity" that's at fault for our crises, but rather the way that we have chosen to live. If we step away from the culture that sees us as the wonderful end-product of evolution, with the earth and its other inhabitants as our servants, our grandchildren might still be able to live.

On the one hand, Quinn's ideas have made me entirely comfortable with the idea that humanity will extinguish itself. A lot of times I wish we'd hurry up and do it already so the world can get back to the business of life.

On the other hand, it's made me look at everything in history in a new way. Quinn's writings are hugely important and it's a shame they haven't gotten the attention they deserve. I gave Ishmael to a friend, a smart guy, and he read ten pages and threw it away.

Read more at http://www.ishmael.org/welcome.cfm.

[joeybee12]

3. Thsi is ridiculous, of course

And is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

[displacedtexan]

4. How Humiliating for those students

when they get to college, totally ignorant of world history.
Every time you slam a door to knowledge, it hits your children in the ass.

[MaineDem]

5. I was just going to post this

The article says the state mandates that "selected world civilizations" be taught. Who selects them? This type of thing bothers me.

[greyl]

6. Also, the education should go beyond civilization

to be really meaningfull. As it is now, a lot of people think humanity showed up on earth planting fields and building cities, immediately fulfilling their divine role as conquerors and rulers of the earth.

[asjr]

10. It is frightening

to me also. How can anyone teach history if he has to leave out other religions? Most wars have been started over religion. The entire school board and superintendent need to be ousted over this. It is political brain-washing to say the least.

[booksenkatz]

7. This is great news

I attended public schools in Texas from K-12 and I was only taught about the "wonderful" things that white Christian American men did. The rest of the world had a big, fat label on it that said "the part of the world you don't need to know anything about." On the rare occasions when the rest of the world was mentioned, people from other countries were viewed as backwards and "quaint" in a paternal way. I didn't realize how ripped off I was until I got out into the real world, and I've spent 24 years trying to catch up and educate myself.

I demand a broader grasp of history not only for my son, but for his entire generation... so kick their bigoted white asses, Mr. Cole!

[havocmom]

8. Have one on one chats with fundies who want to limit what is taught here

and I'll wager they are adamently opposed to the schools in Islamic countries which are run by Islamic fundamentalists and have a very narrow field of studies. The disconnect they have is astounding.

[ithacan]

9. the Right needs to "dumb down" America

of course they don't want anyone to learn anything about the world. Their continued control depends totally on massive ignorance!

The truth is their worst enemy and nightmare.

I'm surprised to see this happening in Maine though.

[NashVegas]

11. 7th Grade History

In my Upstate NY school, focused on NY State history, starting with the Iroquois nation.

Shocking that this is happening in New England.

[southpaw72]

13. this reminds me of the old joke

... about the right wingers complaining to the school board about including foreign languages in the curriculum. One fundy gets up and says, "well my daughter grew up speaking English just like Jesus and the apostles, and that's good enough for me!"

You can't teach U.S. history in a vacuum. Our country didn't just grow out of magic beans. How can you understand the Constitution without some understanding of the Greek civilization that the founding fathers were trying to emulate?

Even for those Christians, how can you understand Christianity without looking at where it comes from? Not Texas, but Palestine.

[booksenkatz]

14. Watch out

They'll think you mean Palestine, Texas!;)

On edit: welcome to DU!:hi:

[PurityOfEssence]

23. Faulty assumption

What makes you think these people want anyone to understand the Constitution or Christianity? They want obedience; the idea of understanding presupposes analysis, thought, questioning, nuance, cosmopolitanism and all that.

Fundamentalism is--among other fine traits--hatred of the unknown, destruction of the different and fear of uncertainty. Watch your tongue while they still allow you to have one.

(No offense meant to you; much to them.)

[skippysmom]

15. Not too shocking

Lots of districts seem to be focusing on good ol' Murikan history at the expense of other cultures. Here in Mass, I believe the high school curriculum has shifted from 2 years of global history and 1 year of US History to 2 years of US and 1 year of global.

While I think it's important to learn about our country's history, I hate to see our teaching of other nations' history go by the wayside. I fear Americans will become even more ignorant of other cultures than we already are.

I hope he continues this fight. We've got to get these fundies out of education.

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. Have written to that school board

Here's the only email address I could find, so I wrote and complained.

[e-mail]

I just read about the lawsuit brought against MSAD regarding the History curriculum. Apparently, your district is sorely in need of reading and understanding First Amendment rights, and the meaning of separation of church and state in government.

It is my sincere hope that the court finds your district in violation of the First Amendment, and allows the curriculum to be taught without religious bias. The narrowness of the History curriculum means your students will be left wanting for comprehension when it comes to entering college and/or becoming adults as they will not be able to effectively participate in the real world of democracy. By not teaching about Greek history and other areas of knowledge regarding the evolution of western civilization, the US Constitution will have no real history or meaning for your students.

I am appalled and disgusted that your district has chosen to pander to religious bias disregarding your students' right to knowledge.

[central scrutinizer]

17. Is math next?

As a math teacher, I would like to see them strip all of the Greek, Hindu, and Arabic influence out of mathematics. All that would be left would be measuring with cubits and Roman numerals.

New word problem: Paul's room measures 15 cubits by 18 cubits. He earns DCLXXIV dollars per week. After titheing will he still be able to buy carpeting that costs XVIII dollars per square cubit?

[mobuto]

19. Try doing math without a zero

its pretty damned difficult. Its a wonder that the Greco-Hellenistic-Roman world managed to invent so much of mathematics and engineering. If it had been me and Euclid, I'd have just given up and gone out for a beer.

[rman]

18. i suppose they don't teach the theory of evolution at that school. n/t

-

[kodi]

20. yeah, what the hell do the greeks have to do with western civilization?

pagan bastards!

who asked them to invent democracy?

[Judi Lynn]

21. Now that Cole has brought national attention to this debacle

HOW can the school POSSIBLY allow these right-wing lunatics to highjack his course for him? Surely they'll do the right thing, one would hope.

NO WONDER our country has produced so many horrendously ignorant, and hostile citizens who find it so easy to hate people from outside the country, to the point they can be whipped into a frenzy of seething hatred at the drop of a hat. This isn't the first time right-wing looney-toons have been forcing their agenda on the local school district.

People are so easy to control when they don't know anything. Wow.

Congratulations, hyphenate, on your shared article. This one's a real spell-binder. Welcome to D.U. :bounce: :bounce: :hi:

[ninkasi]

22. JudiLyn, you are so correct...

Perhaps if some of our "leaders" would take the time and effort to understand history and culture, our current foreign policy wouldn't be so hopelessly screwed up. Bush is a perfect example of what kind of people we don't want in charge of things.

He admits to not reading newspapers, and has been described as incurious about things. There will simply be no way for our country to continue to be seen as a world leader, if all of our citizens are subject to fundamentalist ideas about what should be taught.

[hyphenate]

26. Thanks!!

Usually someone already has posted something that I find. But I got lucky on this one--as someone who is often appalled at some of the events in today's schools, this one was worth bringing up.

[mainer]

24. As a Mainer

I woke up this morning to this article and am just flabbergasted! I really don't think this is typical of Maine schools. We are, by and large, a fairly commonsensical, open-minded state, and to find that one school district has been hijacked by the flat-earthers is astonishing to me.

I'm glad that this has received press. But I'm also embarrassed that the rest of the country may think it reflects on the state as a whole.

[JAbuchan08]

25. I really think that the Democratic party

needs a plank for its platform that includes a statement like, "intellectual freedom is the right of all Americans, including children."

[Rex]

27. There's other civilizations besides Western?

Has the Pope given a ruling on this yet?

[roguevalley]

28. I got jerked over for trying to teach Egypt. Bastards. I hope you all

realize how important this is and how this teacher
is worth their weight in solid gold. There is no
bureacracy like a school district, the fascist bastards.

RV, exhibiting the reason why she retired after 26 years.