Parent Testimony Regarding Curriculum
September 2, 1999
Today my 7th grader
was given a math assignment that asked the following:
Write a one to two page Mathography that
describes your past feelings and experiences in math and that explains your
hopes for this math class. Include:
1.
how you feel about math;
2.
situations both in and out of
school that were "important moments" for you because they affected
how you feel about math; and
3.
what you hope to gain from this class and what you hope to contribute.
This is the homework assignment for his
first day of school.
Also, at the high school, in two
different classes today, the kids were asked to do surveys. They actually used one of the sheets that
showed up on your e-mail yesterday about 7th grade math. [Student] gave erroneous answers.
We are going to sit down and help our
son write a response to this homework assignment. We are not sure what we should do other than
to let the teacher know that we don't believe our sons
feelings about math are relevant; that math is math.
Jean
Carson-Stevenson SD, Washington State
September 2, 1999
Well, the madness has begun again. The first day of school and already we've run
into problems. The superintendent told
us at the August school board meeting that the school would not be conducting
value surveys, and we told him of the law that required parental consent. Guess what?
Today, [Student] had a questionnaire in Spanish class that asked who he
lived with, requested his phone number, and inquired about his off-time
interests. In addition, they did a
"scavenger hunt" of information that was not centered on academics at
all but asked questions on personal interests and a physical profile. This came after I spent the entire morning
laughing about the Day 1 and Day 2
Math situation in the Mead School District.
[Student] answered the Spanish-class
survey with non-answers. When he was
asked what his phone # was he replied, "the line
that connects me to those I'm calling."
When they asked who he lived with he said, "My family." There was a grease spot on his questionnaire,
and when asked what his favorite school subject was, he circled it and drew an
arrow to it! If they are tracking those
answers, he will soon be in the mental ward!
My 16-year-old is class president this
year and has enthusiastically come up with humorous and innovative ideas to
make the incoming freshman feel welcome.
At their orientation last week, he wore his Superman shirt and his
chef's hat to help make them relax and alleviate some of the pressure of being
new in a strange environment. Today, at
the assembly, he was trying to get a school cheer going for the freshmen and,
when he took the mike, introduced himself as his friend. The kids all laughed because they knew his
name from last week but the vice-principal called him over after he was done
speaking to bawl him out. She said he
was not behaving as a responsible leader, and she had doubts about whether he
was trustworthy because many of the freshman were
"on the edge" and he was going to "send them over" with his
behavior! [Student] has been a class
officer many times and is a great leader, but he is loaded with personality and
has a slightly "offbeat" sense of humor (a rubber chicken hangs on
his bedroom door). Have we stopped
allowing for creativity and individuality?
Have we stopped looking at the intent of actions? Can you not have fun and a sense of humor if
you are a leader?
RaeLynn
Carson-Stevenson SD, Washington State
Journal Writing Activities
In the spring of 1993 my daughter was a
senior at Decatur High School in Federal Way, WA, and to fulfill her English
requirement she enrolled in a class called "College Writing". I very naively assumed that she would learn
something about writing college papers.
Dumb me!!
The first six weeks were spent in
"values clarification" and list upon list of personal
information. You've all seen the
"Write a paragraph to answer the question 'What is your greatest fear?' or
'What is your dearest wish?'" She
was required to give information on both parents,
their education, their incomes, every place she had ever lived, her siblings,
etc. etc.
During the second six weeks, they had a
unit called "Logic and Reasoning."
As part of this unit there was a quiz which had 30, that's right 30,
statements to be marked "V" for valid or "I" for
invalid. (Isn't that a nice way to
disguise a 'true and false' quiz?) EVERY
statement dealt with sex, drugs, violence, homosexuality, abortion, or some
related moral value. Two of the
statements were: "A person is born homosexual and therefore has no choice
in the matter." and "Abortion is murder." My daughter FLUNKED this quiz because her
moral value system was not that required by the school.
The final assignment for the semester
was a three page, double space, paper on a "Controversial Social
Issue." The student was to pick one
side of the issue, state a premise, and then defend it. The teacher had included "Education
Reform" as one of the choices, and, as I was in the midst of extensive
research on the topic, and had file drawers full of documentation, my daughter
chose that topic. The stated premise was
"OBE Should Be Abolished From
Federal Way Schools." Her paper was
returned as unacceptable (Grade "zero" - F) because she had used
unacceptable bibliography sources — ALL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS AND LAWS!! She was told that only newspaper and magazine
articles were accepted sources of information.
Needless to say, she flunked the class
and was therefore unable to graduate with her class. It was this class that pushed me over the
line, and ever since I have been a conscientious objector to the values and
beliefs of the established religion of the government schools.
I could give many more personal
examples, as well as many that parents have shared with me.
Katie
Federal Way SD, Washington State
P.S. When I talked to the teacher, she
was extremely hostile. Nothing changed
in the class except that the teacher began to harass my daughter and make fun
of her in front of the class.
Journal Writing Activities
As Americans, our right of privacy is
specifically protected in both federal and state Constitutional law. In addition, we have both the Hatch Amendment
to Federal Regulations and the Grassly Amendment that
address the specifics of the privacy issue.
In November of 1992 the voters of
California were so concerned with the proliferation of personal information by
government snooping that they specifically amended Article I, Section I of the
California Constitution so that it reads,
All people are by
nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life
and liberty … and obtaining safety, happiness and privacy.
This right is clearly violated when
students are asked personal questions, the kind that are part of the
instructional material in the health textbooks published by Holt, Rhinehart and Winston (recommended to the Antelope Valley
Union High School District Board for approval).
It is the task of educators to impart knowledge. In order to do this, it is not legal, nor is
it necessary or appropriate, for the student to be asked to fill out
questionnaires asking for information about their parents
health practices, their own sexual experiences and or their medical
history. Here are actual questions to
help illustrate my point.
How would you feel
if you found out you had an STD?
Have you ever had
an open, oozing sore that disappeared after a few weeks?
Have you had many
sexual partners?
The question is not whether the teacher
is seeking information from you, but whether whatever the teacher is trying to
do would significantly hamper your capacity to have a full and private
life. Our private lives are what make us
individuals in two ways. First, it is in
our private lives, in our personal thoughts, that we can react spontaneously
without regard to convention or the judgment of others. We can be different without risk from
others. Second, developing these differences
in our private lives gives us the individuality that we can bring to our public
lives.
Specifically, it is in privacy that we
are able to develop personal resources for moral autonomy (develop moral
values) through private reflection on issues we deal with in life. Without this ability for private reflection
it is likely that we would not be able to make individual judgments other than
those required by convention or consensus.
In his letter to the editor, Bob Davis,
a teacher, wrote that "personal disclosure" and open discussion about
the student's sexual practices "are good things," especially when
done in the presence of a professional educator. I could not disagree more. Personal disclosure is a psychological
tool. Open discussion about private
sexual practices is a technique used in group therapy sessions. Teachers are indeed professional educators,
prepared to give instruction. However,
they are not psychologists, psychotherapists or psychiatrists and our
classrooms are not therapy rooms.
Teachers are not prepared to handle some adverse reactions that could
result from the use of such techniques.
According to the writings of Richard Paul, PhD., Sigred
Bathen, PhD., and William R. Coulson,
PhD. this is "educational malpractice." Besides his Degree in Psychiatry, Dr. Paul
also holds a Doctorate in Education.
Sue Stokka
California
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