FEEL-GOOD CURRICULUM

OBE EXPRESS OVERRUNNING TEACHERS

Wednesday, April 7, 1993

By Robert Holland 

The letter was signed anonymously, "A Concerned Teacher."  The subject was my recent column on the politically correct social studies curriculum that is supposed to go into effect in Chesterfield County this fall. 

Multicultural and stuffed with globaloney, the curriculum is on the leading edge of the so-called World Class Education the state government's education bureaucracy wishes to spread to all Virginia schools over the next few years. 

The curriculum "is clearly a disaster in the making," he/she wrote, "and we, as teachers, have fought to no avail to have the program reconsidered.  You need to know that." 

One lesson you learn if you write long enough about education is that teachers who strongly oppose Ed-Central policy almost always fear reprisal if they give their names.  That such intimidation should exist in a field dedicated to cultivation of the intellect is disturbing.  Teachers, who are on the front lines, should feel free to speak their piece about what works best in the classroom. 

Evidently, tenure is not all it's cracked up to be as a protector of freedom.  Several other teachers, all requesting anonymity, have called or written to express concern about what's going down under the deceptive name Outcome-Based Education.  Many more parents have called -- and they're organizing. 

An old rule of journalism is that anonymous tips are not to be accepted as fact; they must be checked out.  In this case, Concerned Teacher had sent along copies of purported letters of dissent from social studies faculties of the county's high schools.  To verify these, I filed a Freedom of Information request with the school administration for copies of all letters of disagreement on the curriculum issue. 

The officially provided documents contained everything Concerned Teacher had sent along -- and more. The level of teacher discontent with a curriculum that elevates "globalism" over teaching basic civics and geography was staggering.  From one secondary school after another --L. C. Bird, Clover Hill, Manchester, Midlothian, Monacan, Thomas Dale, Salem Middle -- came strongly worded protests, some signed by entire social studies faculties.  Sentiment wasn't unanimous -- eight teachers at Meadowbrook favored the new curriculum -- but it was lopsidedly against. 

The teachers offered such thoughtful observations as these:  The sweeping new approach has nowhere been tested; students will be hurt by de-emphasis on the teaching of U. S. government; the lack of a textbook will make cohesion difficult; the concept of global citizenship will confuse young students who lack a base of fundamental knowledge; the effect on Advanced Placement classes for bright students will be deleterious. 

"We do not feel that our student population will benefit from the proposed approach," state the Thomas Dale social studies faculty.  "Our students need more structure.  The conservative community in which we teach does not support such radical change.  Many of our parents are veterans and expect that geography and government be taught in recognizable courses." 

Objects overruled.  Ed-Central's committee put the curriculum together over a two-week period last summer with the aid of a university consultant who was paid $6,000.  (The total cost of the new curriculum is approximately $1 million.)  The New Social Studies includes compulsory community service for all high-school students and more multicultural revisionism than you can shake a stick at.  Cesar Chavez becomes a more historically significant (and heroic) American than, say, General Douglas MacArthur. 

Chesterfield represents in microcosm the top/down approach to statewide restructuring on the OBE model.  A State Department of Education memo inviting local superintendents to an April 25-28 conference in Roanoke lists a gaggle of high-powered consultants and university pedagogues who will discuss "Future Training Requirements for Teachers and Administrators for World-Class Education. 

Funny thing, DOE insists there has been no formal go-ahead. Yet its fingerprints are all over the throttle.  This looks suspiciously like a case of implementation first, approval later.  (One hopeful note:  A member of the State Board of Education swears that much of the feel-good tripe in the Common Core of Learning will be jettisoned in favor of hard academic standards before final board action next month.  We'll see.) 

Here's a tip-off on strategy:  A politically and economically elite group has formed something called "Virginians for World-Class Education."  A letter has gone out to CEO types asking for their support in selling the new paradigm to the public.  It was signed by Jeannie Baliles, former First Lady; William Berry, director of Dominion Resources; Secretary of Education James Dyke; and State Board of Education President James Jones. 

Having decided what's good for local schools, these worthies now want to "build grass-roots support."  They've got it backward.  They ought first to talk to concerned locals in places like Alexandria, where Ed-Central wants to eliminate all forms of ability-grouping (part of OBE's utopian vision) -- and, of course, Chesterfield, where academic deconstruction is proceeding briskly.  They also ought to talk to parents who prefer academic rigor over self-esteem and diversity pablum for their children.  But everyday teachers and parents are not being empowered in the process. 

Maybe it's about time they empowered themselves and recaptured these government schools.