Unbelievable: Common Core Problem Asks Kids to Choose Two Amendments to Remove From Bill of Rights

IJReview ^ | 03/31/2014 | Emily Hulsey

[SeekAndFind]

A mother in Arkansas has expressed concern over her daughter’s recent Common Core school assignment that asked her to remove and replace two of the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The team assignment stated that the Bill of Rights is “outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer.” Here is a copy of the assignment:

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The mother who spoke up said she was particularly troubled by the fact that her daughter’s Sixth Grade History class had received no prior training in civics or how to amend the Constitution, which may lead those children to incorrectly believe that it can be changed by a “special committee” as suggested by the assignment.

“After she brought it home and explained her assignment to me, it made me question exactly what she was being taught. Where I can see a class using critical thinking skills to modernize the words, as to help them better understand the Amendments, giving an assignment to remove two then add two with little explanation as to why is upsetting,” she said.

We know that teaching our children false principles – particularly those pertaining to Americans’ basic rights – is dangerous because it can make them less likely to realize and speak up when those rights are being violated in the future. If the Common Core curriculum promotes some of those false principles (whether purposefully or not), it is time to make some big changes – before it’s too late.

One Kid’s Unexpected Answer to a Homework Problem is Freaking Awesome

[vg0va3]

OK, I got 1. Replace the 17th with one that states if a teacher/school system/administrator attempts to teach common core or any other standards based education they will be hung by their toes next to the bill or rights.

[unixfox]

The smart kids would be directed to repeal the 16th and 17th immediately.

The teachers heads would be exploding.

[ealgeone]

Make #2 crystal clear: the right of the people to bear arms of any type shall not be infringed. No permits or fees are required to privately or publicly own, possess or display arms.

[William Tell]

Publius Valerius said: "Among the first 10 amendments, 3 and 7 strike me as the two that could go with the least amount of damage, ..."

Do you say that about 3 because you don't think it can lead to great abuse to provide room and board to soldiers during peacetime? That's why our Founders put it there and it has been effective in protecting homes from that intrusion for over two centuries.

Countries without a Second Amendment might become convinced that they need to sometimes quarter soldiers in private homes. Those who are armed fear the absence of a strong central military much less. They are prepared to organize themselves in Militias and to protect their communities without government help.

[Captainpaintball]

Teaching kids who can barely read or write (or wipe their noses or asses, for that matter) to remove two “amendments” (a word 90% of 6th graders wouldn’t know) from a Constitution they cannot possibly understand... ‘2’ guesses which Amendment they want the kids to remove?

[Paladin2]

2 + 2 = 4

[GeronL]

The whole idea that education needs to be dictated from DC is bizarro

[GeronL]

They did not learn the basics before moving to analyzing, the same thing in all the subjects . The kids will not understand anything if they graduate from this

[kaehurowing]

This kid deserves an A+. Seriously.

[GeronL]

Law school. Where the students had learned the basics and knew the subject. These kids haven’t learned basic civics and are being indoctrinated

[GeronL]

That is basically where it is going

[kaehurowing]

A challenge, but probably the politically correct answer and the one that will give you highest marks is the First and the Tenth.

[tacticalogic]

I’d love to see their reaction to a suggestion that the kids also decide which two enumerated powers they’d remove from Article I, Sec 8.

[Publius Valerius]

I say #3 because the exercise is to remove two of the first 10. This isn’t an easy task, but we have to choose. My thinking is that of those 10, there has never been a case on #3, and as far as I know, it’s never happened since the government has been adopted. So if we have to remove some, #3 seems like a pretty good candidate to me.

#7 is my second choice because, again, we are dealing with the lesser of evils here. I tend to think jury trials in civil cases are overrated, and the elimination of them might actually help to lessen some of the large verdicts that we’ve seen in the past few decades. OTOH, it gives even more power to life-tenure federal judges, but that risk seems to me like the least bad risk compared to removing some of the other amendments.

Also, for purposes of this exercise, I’ve interpreted the assignment to remove an entire amendment—not just a clause.

[Steve_Seattle]

Omit two: an easy choice for today’s liberal-educated kids - the Second Amendment, because guns are “scary”; and the Tenth Amendment, because “states rights” is simple code for racism and all other evil things, like gun rights and bans on gay marriage.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I’d guess the teachers would steer them toward 2 and 10."

Absolutely correct.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I say #3 because the exercise is to remove two of the first 10. This isn’t an easy task, but we have to choose. My thinking is that of those 10, there has never been a case on #3, and as far as I know, it’s never happened since the government has been adopted. So if we have to remove some, #3 seems like a pretty good candidate to me. #7 is my second choice because . . . "

I can't believe you are going along with this exercise - wake up!

[Chode]

whoever designed this needs a new hole in their head...

[BfloGuy]

I can't find anything wrong with this.

Why not ask the little beggars to think about the Constitution? The Founders provided a mechanism for its amendment and that is often discussed on FR.

I'm not in favor of Common Core because I don't like federal educational standards, but let's not go crazy about it.

[nurees]

There isn’t even a formal CC for social studies yet. Ohio is still usi state standards. Only math and language arts are formally CC.