Scholastic and P-2-9/11- worse than you can imagine... (long, worth it)

[whalerider55]

First, a few words on behalf of Scholastic. I'll make them short.
Go to their website to review the corpo-culpa letter from their CEO, and the Guide to Media Literacy they posted after they re-wrote the original media guide.

http://content.scholastic.com

Second, they never sent out 100,000 copies of the media guide to schools; they sent e-mails to 25,000 Social studies teachers letting them know the media guide was available... on line. "Just in case kids were talking about the issue," as per Kyle Good, Scholastic VP for Corporate Communications in my phone call with her 30 minutes ago.

Of course, the original and subsequent media guide were both predicated on assigning the kids to watch the show...

OK. I called Scholastic Customer Service two weeks ago to complain about their tie-in with a non-factual docu-drama, and their subsequent peddling of said tie-in to the schools. I told them that as a parent, educator, and DULY ELECTED MEMBER OF THE LOCAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE, I had a complaint, was receiving them from parents, and wanted them to know I thought they should bail completely.

"We'll get that right off to Corporate, Mr. Whalerider," I was assured.

Having had some time to recuperate from a subsequent broken leg, being in a foul mood, I decided to go over to Scholastic and look at their website; I read the new Media Guide.

From an educators point of view, the guide leaves a lot to be desired; it is vague, it is neutral about issues it should take a stand on, (established facts, for example), and while somewhat adaptable to other media-based studies, it is definetly constructed to work only with P-2-9/11. It would take a lot of adapting, in other words.

From the point of view of a SCHOOL COMMITTEE Member, this curriculum has a lot of problems.

So I called Customer Service again, asked for a phone number for corporate, and they told me they didn't have one for it. I asked for a supervisor, and when I got one, explained my concerns. When I told them that I intended to raise this issue with the school committee, they gave me the phone number for Ms. Good. I called, and she called back.

My tone with her was upsetting to my kids, so let me start by apologizing for my curtness, rudeness, and general incredulity at what she told me. I appreciated her honesty, as dismaying as it may have been to hear it. I only cussed once, and that was "frickin'.

The upshot of the conversation-

Scholastic believes they made a mistake in their original media guide, and that "when it reached the appropriate level of internal scrutiny, we retracted it and put something new out there." I pointed out that the appropriate level of scrutiny was apparently the front page of the newspapers; she disagreed, and said they were on it sooner. (Not soon enough, see below).

She repeated that some of the difficulty was that their target was moving; the film was being edited right up until the time it was shown. I pointed out that the film was being edited to try to avoid lawsuits stemming from outright fabrications and slander, and that 900 had been distgrubuted well before the final edit. She asked if I had seen the show prior to release; I told her I couldn't get a copy, but that I wondered why 900 other people were able to. She told me that production companies do that all the time. I asked her if in her experience they did it so selectively; before she could answer me, I asked the $40,000,000 question.

BEFORE THEY PRODUCED THE INITIAL MEDIA GUIDE, HAD SCHOLASTIC SEEN A COPY OF THE SHOW?
PAUSE.
PAUSE
PAUSE.
"We saw some sections of some parts of it."

YOU NEVER SAW THE WHOLE THING AND YET YOU PRODUCED A MEDIA GUIDE THAT YOU WERE WILLING TO SEND TO SCHOOLS?

"We admitted that we made a mistake and we corrected it."

I was more than peeved. I pointed out that the second "guide" was deeply flawed, it still was based on teachers "pro-actively" getting kids to watch the show, and it soft-pedaled any factual errors, which by Sept 6 (when the new guide was posted) were legion and had already been the subject of lawyers letters which had been released publicly. I told her that any history teacher starts with facts, and then explores nuances and other interpretive elements, and that their guide really seemed to violate that principal and I was deeply troubled.

She told me that they had tied in because they thought it was going to be an important event and one that would likely generate classroom conversation; and yet she told me the original media guide was done by a single person, who had only seen a few sections of the show (I didn't ask, but I'm sure they were carefully selected and provided by ABC); and that they pulled it when it reached the "appropriate level of corporate scrutiny because it didn't meet our standards."

(But apparently, it met their standards to be posted on their website for some time, and for them to send out 25,000 e-mails notifying teachers it was available, before the company pulled it.)

I told her i thought it was a big foo-pah, and she agreed and felt they had done what they could.

I told her they could have recognized it was an unsalvageable mess and pulled it completely; they felt they had a responsibility to make it available to teachers. We disagreed.

Finally, when I had begun to become repetitive and really rude, I took a breath and told her my concern.

"Look. In two years, some of these kids, who were assigned by teachers using your media guide to watch this show and then, with little help from your media guide sort out what is true and what isn't (words that never appear in their media guide) may be fighting in the war that resulted from what happened. They deserved the truth, it was clearly available, ABC chose to go in another direction, and Scholastic failed in its most fundemental responsibility to provide open, unbiased curriculum."

She thanked me for my opinion. I told her that I intended to bring it up before the school committee, and that I was asking our superintendent to ensure that any future use of Scholastic Curriculum materials in our system be discouraged and/or closely vetted for veracity, honesty and utility.

We parted.

I am sick to my stomache. The school com meets monday, i'm on the agenda, there will be a few rolling eyes, but i'm not putting this one to bed until i've made my point.

whalerider

thanks to those of you who read this through to the end.

[fooj]

1. Thank you for standing up and speaking TRUTH.

I am an educator and there are MANY "flaws" in the student study guide. Many FACTS are omitted. It's repulsive.

I teach high school and I have NEVER seen Scholastic used as an educational vendor. They generally supply the primary grades with educational materials. We buy from McDougall-Littel, Prentice Hall and Holt. So...WHY Scholastic? Is it an attempt to indoctrinate the kids at perhaps the 3rd and 4th grade levels? 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th?

I am SICK over this, as well. I've been thinking about contacting our local rep for one of the companies that I've gone through (see above) and asking them if they would be interested in sponsoring a student guide sheet that was FACTUAL! I would be happy to provide them with one. Who knows? It just might work. Hit Scholastic where it HURTS. Give their largest competitors an opportunity to promote FACTUAL HISTORY while they brand themselves PURVEYORS OF PROPAGANDA! It's just a thought.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[whalerider55]

3. thanks for the feedback

i think over the last ten-fifteen years, Scholastic has increasing relied on tie-ins with a lot of other commercial efforts (as in Disney/Pixar films....)

they still provide some value, but increasingly their offerings are garbage.

best i can do. trying to stay relevent, i suppose. but honestly, i believe that this whole deal was major snowjob by the producers, a stealth effort that nearly succeeded and left a lot of people badly burned. i don't think they will get fooled again.

whalerider

[nosillies]

6. "I don't think they will get fooled again" -- I think you're right

I think they acted too soon, got duped, and have been burned and embarrassed by what happened and by those of us who wrote and called. I don't believe Scholastic went into this with ill-intent. They went into corporate wheel-spinning mode, and had neither the time nor the level-headedness to make it perfectly right.

And at least when you get worked up on the phone, you do it becuase you care about kids! :D

[fed-up]

2. Why did they get a copy or even portions when Clinton couldn't???

Who's idea was it to get Scholastic in on this????

something stinks here

[whalerider55]

4. i'm sure what they saw

was very carefully selected and provided, and i doubt it was anything that would have aroused suspicion. they were smoked, pure and simple; they backtracked but didn't do enough, in my opinion.

whalerider

[Dinger]

5. Please Let Us Know How It Turns Out, And

good luck to you! I admire your dedication!

[zeemike]

7. I knew what was to happen when I heard "Corporate HQ."

Corporate HQ is similar to a memory hole...It is where they send all problems to be ensnared, entangled, stonewalled, and just plain ignored so that it is lost in there vast system.

[peacebird]

8. THIS is why Clinton. Berger and Albright MUST sue. This video will be

shown in many classrooms. It will be rented and sold freely - probably the original "Directors Cut"

WHY HAVE THEY NOT FILED SUITS YET?

Why?

:grr:

[whistle]

9. Link says, "No Results Found"

[whalerider55]

10. worked for me...

http://www.scholastic.com/

[wiley]

11. Can we get some more K and Rs for this great post!

You rock, whalerider55!

[cybildisobedience]

12. good for you!

If this is what happens when someone is feeling grumpy, maybe we should all be!
Appreciate all you're doing to not let this slip away....I'm sure they all feel this is behind them.

[blossomstar]

13. It takes guts to stand up for what you believe is right!

If everyone would do it, this never would have happened. People have become so passive. THANK YOU for your courage.

[glitch]

14. K & R with sadness. You did good, let us know how the meeting turns out.nt

[Usrename]

15. Thank you for aggressively hunting down these ass-clowns.

You are doing a heroic job.

[ElboRuum]

16. K&R

Quite an easy read, actually.

[JDPriestly]

17. Thanks for you courage. Better rude than silently supporting

an immoral war.

[AZBlue]

18. Aside from bad customer service on the phone, I don't see your point

Your post is not much more than a good example of very bad customer service.

I read the Guide - yes, it's meant to accompany the show, but it calls for students to do their own research and make up their own minds. It also shows them how biased different media outlets can be. Isn't that what we'd all like from our countrymen? I say the Dem party would be much better off if many American adults could be enrolled in that class! And this is how we're going to thank Scholastic?? Are you kidding??

Plus....let's face it. Most teachers didn't use it. And, of those that did, most of their students didn't watch the show. It was too awful and too dull. So this is "much ado about nothing."

[whalerider55]

22. disagree

the guide is predicated on teachers assigning kids to watch the show, a show that teachers AND Scholastic were unable to preview AND had been the subject of publicized letters from attorneys providing a factual basis for disputing elements of vthe show that were fabricated.

Lets assume that some teachers used the guide- i'll assume 25,000, based on Scholastics own pimping of it. It's as realistic an assumption as yours; actually more so since it provides scholastics own number. 25,000 teachers, five classes a day, 30 kids a class...

whether one or no kids watched; the guide was still surrealistic, although I believe it did have elements that were generically useful. but asking kids to look at scenes that had been changed and figure out what the impact of them was to the story (especially when we are talking about documentable history) seems absurd; since the kids, the teachers and scholastic never saw the originals to begin with.

i wish I wish i shared your confidence in the apathy and fecklessness of teachers and students; but as a parent, a teacher and a school committee member, my experience tells me differently.

much ado about nothing?
i have no degrees of separation with 9/11. i knew people who died, i went to elementary school and high school with some, and figured out by the time i tracked down my buddies from the hood where i grew up that i had three degrees of sep or less more than a dozen times.

face that, my cynical friend.
hmmm.
you're right. this is personal for me.

whalerider

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[whalerider55]

29. apology if i offended

you are right; i know as little about you as you know about me.

if i misinterpreted what you wrote, i take responsibility for that.
in the context of what was being discussed, your comment about much ado struck a very sour chord with me; my response to your email challenged your assertions on their face before i addressed my understanding of your comment.

i never said it wasn't personal for you; i said it was personal for me.

you have chosen not to address my response challenging your assumptions about the utilization of the guide. either what i had to say has merit or it doesn't; you can make all kinds of assumptions about me as a person, as i did about you; the central dispute between us nas to the curriculum utility remains.

you are welcome to ignore me; lots do and that has never stopped me from doing what i think is right.

your suggestion that i am irrational, uncivil and lacking in decency is subjective, and well within your rights. i've been all of those things, rarely at the same time, and no one who knows me would use those words singly or in combination to describe me.

and since i responded to your email, at which point you bailed on the dialogue for a slight you chose to embrace, one could hardly call that a conversation.

you had some interesting points to make. i'm sorry that you've chosen not to back them up with a continued conversation.

i will have a nice life. you too.

and i've chosen not to put you on ignore, because you are not afraid to challenge ideas and engage in a dialogue, up to a certain point.

that's how i learn.

whalerider

[emcguffie]

19. I'm right behind you.

I just hope I can make enough of a difference to stop our schools from using scholastic, if they stray from what is factual.

You did a great job.

[Kurovski]

20. A good point made by you about some of the kids being involved in

Bush's war one day.

Thank you so much for being active in this matter, and I hope your physical symptoms subside soon!

Take comfort in knowing you're fighting the good fight and are actually doing something of great importance.

Excellent post.

[ShortnFiery]

21. Yes, bless your efforts!

I did read your complete post and I agree with you're actions.

Keep up the pressure! I'm glad you only said "frickin'" because I know how it feels to hold back being of an animated temperament myself. :blush:

I know that our individual efforts fall like "a drop in the bucket" but together we can create a rainstorm of criticism and boycotts that WILL make a difference to the corporate entities that support educational systems.

Again, may God bless your efforts! (I hope it's cool to convey this feeling because I try to be a true Christian)

:applause: :yourock: :hug:

[Generator]

23. This illustrates the crux of the problem

Scholastic (a big trusted name in schools, correct?) implicitely trusts the media, ABC, those with money ie, corporations-to tell the truth. By not previewing the show, the show could have contained anything. If there was no outcry-there would have been no revisions. Trust of the television and all media is the problem with America.

The lies are manifold and they infect everything.

Thank you for trying to affect change and proving what I've come to believe.

[October]

24. Here's my exchange...they're getting arrogant now!

My comments are in "bold" below. (October)



Thank you for writing to us regarding the classroom discussion guide for “The Path to 9/11.” We appreciate your concerns and are pleased to have an opportunity to respond.

The mission of Scholastic is well reflected in our credo and editorial platform which includes the statement: “Good citizens may honestly differ on important public questions. We believe that all sides of the issues of our times should be fairly discussed—with deep respect for facts and logical thinking—in classroom magazines, books and other educational materials used in schools and homes.” We also strongly believe that students should discuss the important issues of the day in classrooms so that they may gain the critical thinking skills that will help them become participating citizens and voters.

Your organization published materials to go along with a miniseries that fabricated the events of 9-11. This is not about “good citizens disagreeing,” so you can put your flag way -- it is about your lack of integrity.

How can you even begin to defend yourself? Your materials increasingly have commercial tie-ins with Disney cartoons et al, yet your staff admitted to not watching the entire miniseries for which you supplied study guides to 25,000 educators. It’s preposterous! It’s a charade! Why should I, a parent and educator, ever subscribe to your services again? You crossed the line and lost my trust.

Because a large number of high school students were expected to view the ABC docudrama, The Path to 911, we created the classroom discussion guide which we made available for download at www.scholastic.com/medialiteracy. We alerted about 25,000 high school teachers to let them know about the guide. We hope you will take a moment to look over these materials. We’ve already heard from a number of social studies teachers who found them very useful in their classrooms. This teaching guide was not sponsored by ABC and Scholastic had no involvement with the content of the docudrama.

I’m appalled that any educator found value in materials that supported a fabricated docudrama on actual events. You obviously duped a lot of usual subscribers. Your insensitivity to 9-11 is a disgrace. The fact that your guide was not sponsored by ABC is irrelevant. You, in effect, advertised for ABC’s miniseries!

We understand that people across the political spectrum have strong views about issues related to 9/11 and we respect those differing views. Our goal is to help students and teachers engage in meaningful discussion about the media’s portrayal of major events and encourage students to develop the skills they need to discern fact from fiction.
This is not the event to learn fact from fiction – especially when you supplied materials giving credence to a TV drama as though it were a documentary.

Scholastic is always interested in hearing the views of our customers, and we appreciate the chance to clarify our position and to correct facts that may have been reported inaccurately about our company.

Shame on you, Scholastic. Shame on you. I’m more displeased than ever having read this arrogant response with its condescending tone.

I skipped the September book sale, and I’ll be skipping the October one, as well. You need to make this right.

Sincerely,
October


Sincerely,

Kyle Good
Vice President, Corporate Communications
212-343-4563
[e-mail]

[whalerider55]

26. thanks for writing

they do understand they made a series of mistakes, they want this to blow over, and they'll just keep running corpo-speak up the flagpole until we forget.

i have a piece in the local muckraking journal about this today, and will be making a brief presentation to the school committee monday night.

we do what we can do.
keep on fighting. and as you have demonstrated, if you keep on following the money (or stemming the flow of it), you'll eventually reach into the heart of darkness and force the light of reality to shine.

whalerider

[samsingh]

25. scholastic was wretched in this. they stooped very low.

[gulliver]

28. I've bought my last book from them.

I won't support a company that tries to get schoolkids to watch propaganda. Thanks for the post.