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Fifth Column

Anti-America M.S.

2003-10-06

I got this off LGF; I canât get into the site. Sorry
At a passing glance, there was a certain familiarity about this Los Angeles public middle-school classroom. The students definitely looked the partâthey were still sweet, still relatively innocent, the boys barely aware of the girls, the girls only barely able to tolerate the boys. And there was a teacher standing in front, talking about the video that was playing.
So far so goodâŠ
A closer look, however, revealed that most of the students were in the back of the room making protest signs. The few 11- and 12-year olds watching the screen saw Guatemalan villagers exhuming the skeletons of victims of that Central American nationâs bloody civil war. And the social studies teacher made it clear he thought the U.S. had been on the wrong side. "Thatâs a mass graveâyouâve heard about them," Shawn McDougal told the class. "The U.S. supported the government and they were our friends. We gave them weapons so they could kill their own people." By contrast, the guerrillas fighting the government were, apparently in his view, valiant heroes. "Whatâs a guerrilla movement?" the teacher asked, then quickly answered: "People fighting for change, right? For economic and political reforms, right? And they opposed the military government."

That's what I like, a nice, even-handed assessment...

He shushed the kids in the back of the room, then continued: "Remember how we talked about Afghanistan? About how the U.S. gave money to arm Osama bin Laden?" The lesson given on this autumn day a year ago was typical for this taxpayer-supported schoolâwhere the war in Iraq is wrong, capitalism is suspect, immigrants are almost always taken advantage of by their bosses, and the United States and its government are, if not the enemy per se, then at least misguided. Those messages mirror the beliefs of the schoolâs founders, Roger Lowenstein, a 60-year-old former attorney-turned-TV writer, and Susanne Coie, a 33-year-old teacher. They conceived of this school as having a dual purpose: giving inner-city students from ethnically and economically diverse backgrounds a college-prep education, and exposing them to immigration, criminal justice, labor relations and other social issues. They would learn community organizing and study law and public policy. Their field trips would be street protests.
And this is a PUBLIC school! Are parents allowed to shift their children if they have a brain?

Posted by:Atrus

#7 Maybe Ah-nuld can have a long heart-to-heart with the staff of this public school in a couple of weeks, once the entire recall thing settles down. Something along the line of "this isn't going to happen in MY state..."

Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-6 7:54:54 PM

#6 Evidence of the students' ability to sift through the indoctrination is in the article: " In the spring, a student survey in the school newspaper found that the social studies classes, which most closely identified with this school's stated mission, were by the far the students' least favorite. An accompanying editorial suggested the reason: "At the door you can feel the boredom brewing."

There's still a problem - even if students are able to sift through the indoctrination, they aren't challenging what's being said. Even if the students are bored, at some point in time later on in life there's a good chance they'll remember the crap that was dispensed in class and, assuming that they don't do research of their own, will likely tailor their beliefs accordingly.

Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-6 5:16:16 PM

#5 This is a charter school, so parents have to apply for their children and can take them out for a standard LA school. But, Joanne Jacobs points out the students have improved 2 1/2 years in reading ability in one year. If they learn to read, they can learn what pap their teachers are feeding them. If they can't read, the lessons on Guatemala will just be reinforced by the indoctrination of PBS, ABC, et. al.

Evidence of the students' ability to sift through the indoctrination is in the article: " In the spring, a student survey in the school newspaper found that the social studies classes, which most closely identified with this school's stated mission, were by the far the students' least favorite. An accompanying editorial suggested the reason: "At the door you can feel the boredom brewing." McDougal said he regretted their sentiment, but was glad they felt free to voice their opinion."

Posted by: Mr. Davis 2003-10-6 4:53:00 PM

#4 Then sue the school and/or the state. You are not
paying taxes for having your child indoctrinated. In fact you are not paying taxes to have anyone's child indoctrinated (those child are future voters).
School is supposed to be secular, right? No reason it is allowed to be political.

There are also other aspects. First, a teacher is in a better position to influence people than say, an engineer. Second, there is the aspect of an adult abusing his position to get his way with children. IMHO a teacher who indoctrinates children is not so far away as a teacher who uses
his authority to have sex with them. It is
a rape of consciences, of consciences too weak to oppose a proper defense.

BTW, if you want to know why I am so sanguine: I had communist teachers.

Posted by: JFM 2003-10-6 4:50:10 PM

#3 JFM

I disagree. The teacher is paid to perform whatever function the local school board is willing to put up with. Child indoctrionation only happens when the parents allow it.

Posted by: Superhose 2003-10-6 3:20:27 PM

#2 This guy is paid to teach not to indoctrinate.

Is there any way to get this guy refunding the tax
payer with the INTEGRALITY of his salaries since he started to work?

Posted by: JFM 2003-10-6 2:45:23 PM

#1 the link is for the LA Times, which requires registration

Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-6 2:10:19 PM

00:00