Philadelphia parents noticed troubling signs in their children’s social studies curriculum and asked to see all the materials.
asserted
parents → notice → materials
They couldn’t get them.
asserted
They → get → them
Now those materials have been brought to light in a congressional investigation.
asserted
materials → bring → investigation
A new majority staff report from the House Education and Workforce Committee documents how a small group of school personnel turned Philadelphia’s social studies curriculum into a political platform for extremist causes.
asserted
group → document → causes
When those parents approached my organization, the North American Values Institute (NAVI), asking for help, we tried to find out what the district was teaching but we also hit a wall.
asserted
we → approach → wall
Eventually, a teacher shared the curriculum with us with considerable trepidation.
asserted
teacher → share → trepidation
She asked that we protect her anonymity.
asserted
we → ask → anonymity
That alone should give us pause: A teacher feared sharing public school instructional materials with people seeking to understand what children were learning.
asserted
children → give → what
Parents should never have needed an insider, an advocacy organization and congressional investigators to get this kind of access into what their children were learning.
asserted
children → need → what
But because some school officials know that what they brought into the classroom would be considered out of bounds by many parents, they did everything they can to hide it.
asserted
they → know → it
According to the congressional report, a world history assignment asked students to honor a resistance movement.
uncertain
assignment → accord → movement
Among the options was the Great March of Return, a campaign of demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel border that the terrorist organization Hamas supported and that engaged in violent confrontation.
asserted
that → support → confrontation
Another exercise asked students to identify the United States and Israel as terrorist states.
asserted
exercise → ask → states
Students should study various political movements, including those that use violence.
asserted
that → study → violence
They should examine competing perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hear multiple views about American foreign policy.
asserted
They → examine → policy
But asking students to "honor" a particular movement crosses the line from studying it to celebrating it and, in this case, encouraging students to identify with a violent terrorist organization.
asserted
asking → ask → organization
Philadelphia superintendent Tony Watlington maintained that the curriculum did not indoctrinate students.
asserted
curriculum → maintain → students
Yet he told investigators he was unaware that it included materials from the Racial Justice Organizing Committee, a highly ideological group led by district employees.
asserted
it → tell → employees
The district told investigators it would stop having district teachers and administrators write social studies curricula and would standardize instruction with help from national experts.
asserted
teachers → tell → experts
The school district also said that it placed its social studies curriculum director, Ismael Jimenez, who celebrated the Oct. 7 massacres, in termination proceedings.
asserted
who → say → proceedings
But replacing personnel with qualified experts will accomplish little in the long run if the curriculum remains shielded from public view.
asserted
curriculum → replace → view
Without access, curriculum disputes become contests of credibility.
asserted
disputes → become → credibility
Administrators assure parents that lessons are balanced.
asserted
lessons → assure → parents
Critics share an alarming passage from a single assignment that a child brought home from school.
asserted
child → share → school
Officials say such claims have been taken out of context.
uncertain
claims → say → context
Schools could avoid such disputes if they let parents read the assignment, the accompanying sources and the teacher’s instructions.
uncertain
parents → avoid → assignment
An institution confident in its educational judgment should be able to explain its choices with the classroom materials in full view.
asserted
institution → explain → view
School districts should publish curriculum guides, reading lists, assignments and supplementary resources on searchable websites.
asserted
districts → publish → websites
They should identify the outside organizations providing content and the officials responsible for approving it.
asserted
They → identify → it
When materials change, the public should be able to see what changed.
asserted
what → see → ?
The same standard should apply to professional development.
asserted
standard → apply → development
Some teacher training instructs teachers to use controversial subjects to recruit students to a cause.
asserted
training → instruct → cause
Families deserve to know what their schools are encouraging teachers to teach their children.
asserted
schools → deserve → children
Most of these materials already exist electronically.
asserted
Most → exist → materials
Districts can make them accessible without requiring schools to produce elaborate new reports.
asserted
them → make → reports
Access will, of course, produce disagreements, which is a feature of public accountability.
asserted
which → produce → accountability
School boards can hear objections, weigh the evidence and defend sound instructional choices.
asserted
boards → hear → choices
Publishing a school system’s budget does not give every taxpayer veto power over spending and neither should publishing a curriculum give every parent a say over teaching.
asserted
publishing → publish → teaching
It does, however, make informed oversight possible.
asserted
oversight → make → ?
Philadelphia’s experience shows the cost of leaving families dependent on assurances they cannot verify.
asserted
they → show → assurances
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
