PARENTS GAIN ACCESS TO SECRET SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Lawmaker confirms immediate changes in controversial operations- John Griffing

AUSTIN, Texas – Parents of school children across Texas now are gaining access to a previously secret public school curriculum, according to an announcement from a state lawmaker.

The CSCOPE program, an online offering that until now has prohibited, under penalty of law, teachers from sharing the lessons with parents, stirred up controversy because of its various lessons – some that were taken offline after the questions arose.

Among those issues were that the curriculum at one point taught the Boston Tea Party was an act of terrorism and Christians were cannibals, and forced students to draw a socialist flag while imagining a new socialist country.

Teachers also would have been exposed to criminal penalties for sharing CSCOPE lesson content with parents, and educators were required to teach strictly from the CSCOPE lesson plan, without additions or changes.

But Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, whose Texas Senate Education Committee held a public hearing last week investigating CSCOPE, said there now have been “significant changes.”

The Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative, which owns CSCOPE, agreed to the following changes, effectively immediately, he said.

Those include:

• All future meetings of the TESCCC governing board, beginning with the February meeting, will be public with all the respective notice requirements being met.
• The TESCCC will begin a joint review process of all CSCOPE lessons with the SBOE beginning with Social Studies.
• Amendment of all Terms of Use Agreements, signed by both teachers and districts, removing civil or criminal penalties associated with the release of CSCOPE content.
• Clarifying that all teachers and districts may post any and all CSCOPE lessons that they deem necessary.

In addition to these immediate transparency and quality control changes, CSCOPE will also undergo structural, governance, and other changes, including ending the non-profit 501(c)3 arrangement that incorporates CSCOPE, posting lessons online, and creating a standing curriculum review panel comprised of parents, teachers, school administrators, members of the SBOE, and TESCCC board members.

The online courses no longer will be mandatory, either, the senator said.

“CSCOPE is notifying all participating school districts that lessons are not intended to be taught verbatim, and the governing board generally recommends that local districts utilize CSCOPE lessons solely as a resource. Until CSCOPE lessons can be reviewed through a collaborative process with the SBOE and TESCCC, districts are strongly encouraged to review all lessons at the local level, to ensure that lessons are appropriate for their students,” the senator’s announcement said.

For more of the article go to:  http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/parents-gain-access-to-secret-school-curriculum/#haDUJJeWqCaj2uYG.99

CUSTODIAN CLAIMS SCHOOL FIRED HIM FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT CO-WORKER’S MISTREATMENT OF AMERICAN FLAG

- Liz Klimas

A custodian in a South Dakota school district took a video of an improperly folded American flag and posted it on Facebook along with a message asking people call the superintendent over what was supposedly repeated mistreatment of the flag. On Monday, the janitor says he was fired.

Cesar Zakahi said on his Facebook page that he was fired from Stanley County School District in Fort Pierre for standing up for the flag and that this video was part of the issue:

Here’s what Zakahi wrote on his Facebook page:

I was a custodian in a small town school gym, i posted on my fb Page a coworkers abuse of the United States flag, and was fired

He continued in a post Wednesday saying:

Hello I am Cesar zakahi i am the guy that got fired for posting the US flag being disrespected at my work, i was born and raised in South Dakota, i am a disabled vet, i in would do this again even though it cost my job to stop the disrespect of the flag,

The school district’s Superintendent Don Hotalling told Keloland TV that Zakahi was no longer working for the school and that he was let go during a 90-day initial probation period since his hiring.

For more of the article go to: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/06/custodian-claims-school-fired-him-for-asking-the-internet-to-complain-about-repeated-improper-folding-of-american-flag/

Let’s Not Give Up On The Constitution

- Douglas V. Gibbs

As my nephew reviewed his history book, he became excited when he noticed an entire chapter of the text book was dedicated to the United States Constitution.  Like his Uncle Doug, Branden loves history, and has studied extensively the various Founding Fathers, and the Constitutional Convention.

The opportunity to discuss the law of the land in class was more than he ever expected.  Branden waited patiently through the school year as the class marched through the textbook, chapter by chapter.  When it finally came time for the chapter on the Constitution, the teacher skipped it, and went on to the following chapter in the book.

Branden, disappointed that the chapter he had been waiting for all school year was hurdled over and forgotten, asked his teacher for an explanation.  The teacher told him, “We only have so much time to get through this book, so we will have to skip the less important chapters.”

The Constitution unimportant?

Stunned by the teacher’s answer, Branden went to his principal regarding his concerns.The answer from the principal of the school was the same.

A whole generation of students are being taught that the Constitution is unimportant, and if anything, a hindrance.

At the New York Times, Louis Michael Seidman, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University, and the author of the forthcoming book “On Constitutional Disobedience,” believes we should give up on the Constitution.

In his New York Times article, “Let’s Give Up on the Constitution,” Professor Seidman calls the document archaic, idiosyncratic, and downright “evil.”

Reading the article, and his credentials, two things became abundantly clear to me.  First, Professor Seidman supports the concept of Constitutional Law, a.k.a. case law.  In other words, the Constitution does not necessarily mean what it says. The text of the Constitution means what judges say it means.

Second, Professor Seidman abhors originalism.  In other words, he has disdain for those that believe in defining the Constitution as it was originally intended by the Founding Fathers involved in crafting the document.

After completing reading his article, one other thing came to mind that startled me, when considering that this gentleman is a teacher in one of our fine collegiate institutions. . .

Professor Seidman is completely ignorant of the Constitution.  He believes it to be a living document based on an ever-changing society, and the court’s view of the constitution based on their rulings.

For more of the article go to: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/52167