Thursday, October 02, 2014

Sick-out! Teachers and students protest rewriting of history

American independent news programme Democracy Now! reports,
"After a county school board in Colorado proposed to rewrite the district’s high school U.S. history curriculum to stop teaching about civil disobedience, students and teachers have responded with acts of civil disobedience of their own. 

"Classes have been canceled twice in Jefferson County as teachers stage mass sick-outs and students walk out of classes. At a protest last week, hundreds of Denver-area high school students held cardboard signs with slogans including, "Don’t make history a mystery" and "Keep your politics out of my education." 

"The protests began after the school board announced it was considering reviewing the curriculum of Advanced Placement history courses and adding more material to "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights." The proposed changes also call for the removal of classroom materials that "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law." 

"In addition, teachers are protesting a pay-grade system that ties their salaries to performance reviews. "

It is the sort of thing which would have the late Michael Gove turning in his grave :)

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