New Education Standards Force Gay History, Climate Alarmism, And ‘Math Identity Rainbows’ On StudentsEducation standards have devolved, in several states, into a free-for-all of cramming woke nonsense into every corner of curriculum.By: Angela Morabito
August 29, 2023
While most schools were closed for summer break, several state education departments were hard at work crafting new curricular frameworks that will shape what students learn in K-12 schools for years to come. What should be a straightforward exercise in setting high academic standards has devolved, in several states, into a free-for-all of cramming woke nonsense into every corner of curriculum.
These frameworks tell school districts and teachers what students ought to learn and when they ought to learn it. For instance, a state education authority might decide that students should know enough about America to name the president and vice president in second grade, explain the three branches of government in fifth grade, and explain how a bill becomes a law in eighth grade. Sadly, the latest batch of education plans are so full of politics that actual learning loses out.
For instance, California’s new math framework encourages “teaching toward social justice.” Sample classroom activities include “math identity rainbows,” in which students choose colors that represent their individual strengths to create an image of a “mathematical community.”
The math plan prioritizes equity over, well, math to such an extent that academia has taken action. As the framework was being crafted, more than 1,700 academics in the STEM fields signed an open letter decrying the lack of options for advanced students to receive advanced math instruction. Their letter also laments the setting aside of algebra and geometry, expressing concern that students will arrive at college ill-prepared to handle post-secondary mathematics.
New Jersey is currently considering new English language arts and math standards that indoctrinate children about climate change for the purpose of spurring leftist activism. The standards declare that the rising generation of New Jerseyans must have the skills to “create alternate discourses to change the present and shape the future.” If the end goal were not obvious enough, the standards also demand that teachers help students “become involved in the issues of our age, which include climate change and environmental justice.”
Massachusetts, too, has an objectionable framework, this one for health. Its draft standards would have middle schoolers learn the difference between sex and so-called gender identity. The document describes sex as “assigned” rather than biological, implying that sex is not intrinsic but grafted onto a person’s identity when the doctor says, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” in the delivery room. Parents have the right to opt their children out of sex ed lessons, but “please don’t indoctrinate my child” is not a special favor parents should have to ask for from the government. It should be the norm.
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Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/29/new-education-standards-force-gay-history-climate-alarmism-and-math-identity-rainbows-on-students/
