Posted on 12/01/2005 11:27:55 AM PST by Spiff
I know that this may be a long read, there's a lot of content here, but I think that many FReepers will find the information here interesting and disturbing. I will appreciate any help I can get with this situation.
My wife and I have been homeschooling our children since they started schooling. We have 5th, 6th, and 8th graders. Recently, we made the tough decision to enroll them in a local Charter School. In Arizona, a Charter School is a privately run, smaller, more focused public school. It provides parents with school choice and some competition between the schools. Although, right now, the Charter Schools are the red-headed step children and are regularly passed over in funding, resources, etc. in favor of the megaschools. We favored the small school environment and found a Charter School that we thought met our minimum standards. We went into this with our eyes open and met with the Principal and the School Director and asked many specific questions related to policies, teachers, environment, curriculum, underlying philosophy, discipline, etc. We knew that we were going to have to unteach our children some of the garbage that they would inherently be taught in any sort of public school and we were prepared to do that.
They've been in the school less than a month and we've already run into problems with what is being taught and what we were told they would be taught. We've dealt with some, but the biggest one came up last night.
My 8th grader is not allowed to bring her Science textbook home. The reason is that the Science teacher purchased the textbooks with his own money and doesn't want any to be lost or defaced. In fact, there's not enough books to go around so some students must double up on a textbook. I understand this, to some extent, and actually see a benefit with my daughter having to take copious notes to keep up. That note-taking skill will serve her well later on.
We help our children every night with their homework. At this time, if you look at raw man hours, we probably spend more time helping them with their homework now than we spent teaching them and helping them with their homework when we were homeschooling, but I digress. Anyway, my 8th grader had some questions about an essay that she was assigned to write for her science class. She started reading off some things that were supposed to be about human ecology and said that she was supposed to write why she agreed or disagreed with each statement. Now, in what science class do you write why you agree or disagree with the First Law of Thermodynamics? In the 8th grade?!
The book is called "Global Science" and it is the 3rd Edition published by Kendall/Hunt in 1991 and authored by John W. Christensen." I can find no other science books authored by this person.
Many of those "laws and principles" had little to do with science, were value statements, and some were plainly offensive. But, whether one agrees or disagrees with the philosophy behind some of these statements, many don't belong in a science book. This piqued my interest and I read through the "laws and principles" thoroughly and then Googled them.
These are the "laws and principles" that are printed in this textbook. I quote them here so that you can read them and I enthusiastically invite comment about them:
THE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS AND PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ECOLOGY
- Law of Interrelatedness: We interact with each other, and relate to everyting around us; everything is connected to everything else. You can't do just one thing.
- The Law of Equity All humans are created with an equal right to live in dignity and peace and to work out a meaningful existence. Everyone is entitled to a fair share of the world's resources--provided one is carrying one's own share of the responsibilities.
- Law of Conservation of Matter Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It can be rearranged. Everything must go somewhere - there is no away.
- First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. However, it can be transformed from one from to another.
- Second Law of Thermodynamics: As energy and other resources are used, there is an overall decrease in the amount of usefulness.
- Continuous Change: Everything is becoming something else.
- Brontosaurus Principle: Up to a point, the bigger the better; beyond that point, benefits could be reduced. Or, to everything there is an optimum size.
- Rights of Future Generations: Our environment does not belong to us alone. It was used by our forefathers, passed on to us, and we are charged with the responsibility of passing it in the best condition possible to future generations.
- Responsibility of the Born: All persons must be held responsible for their own pollution.
- Nature Knows Best: Nature frequently, but not always knows best. We use antibiotics to counter nature.)
- Your Environment is You: "We shape our buildings (environment) and afterwards our building (environment) shapes us." - Winston Churchill
- Goal of Society: Society's goal should be to live in comfort, and in harmony with nature.
- The Principle of Diversity: The greater the diversity of a system, the greater its stability.
- Give Earth a Chance:No national purpose however urgent, no political or economic necessity however pressing, can possibly justify the risk of bringing all human history to an end.
- Technology-Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution: Corollary: God science proceeds into the unknown with caution; and in ignorance, refrains.
- Ideas Unlimited: The creativity of the collective human mind seems almost limitless. If humans, as a whole, understand the laws that govern our ecosphere and live within the limits imposed by nature, human creativity should enable us to enjoy a comfortable living on our planet for an indefinite period of time.
There is no reference in the book to where this crap came from. Disturbing is the fact that bizarre value statements are mingled with scientific principles like the Laws of Thermodynamics. When I Googled, I could not find any legitimate science sites, papers, or articles which contained this set of principles or anything close to them. What I did find was that every site that had this set or a slightly reworded set were Pagan and Witchcraft sites. No, really. I'm not looking for Satanists under every bed or in every closet, but this is what I found and it surprised me.
Here's a list of some of the websites which contain this set of principles or slightly reworded versions:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos144.htm
http://www.paganlibrary.com/reference/fundamental_laws_human_ecology.php
http://textfiles.group.lt/occult/echolgyl.txt
http://www.darkwitches.co.uk/haven/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=20
http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/thelaws/laws-01.txt
http://www.paganality.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=11577
http://www.junos-horizon.com/documents/247.html (Wicca site)
http://paganrealm.tripod.com/misc/hum-eco-laws.html
http://groups.msn.com/AlbanysMysticCircle/listmagicktopics.msnw
http://crypt.eldritchs.com/tome/0617.html (Witchy Crypt)
http://www.esotericdotcom.com/categoria.asp?categoria=Human (Directory of articles about magic, divination, alchemy... )
http://www.witcheswell.com/text/thelaws/laws-01.txt
http://www.funet.fi/pub/culture/occult/BoS/0601-700.txt
The only reference I could find, and I found it on several of the sites, was to something called "Ecomagic - Book of shadows" and it showed that this set of principles was on Page 616 of that book. What does "Ecomagic" have to do with science? When I compare what was printed in the science book with the reworded versions found on the websites, it appeared to me that what was in the science book was simply a cleaned up version, with some grammatical fixes, of what was published in Pagan literature and published online. Now, of course, I need to know which was published first. The book was published in 1991 and had earlier editions. Did the Pagan sites get the statements from this "science" book, or did the "science" book AND the Pagan sites get the list of principles from some other source that I can't find? Maybe (probably) this is a distraction, but I think it is noteworthy and disturbing.
These principles are not just included in a sidebar or appendix. No, instead they are at the end of Chapter 1 and they are prefaced with this comment:
The Earth we live on has its problems, but basically it is a world of opportunity. To achieve a life of comfort and happiness, it is important to understand the "laws and principles" discussed in this text. They will be emphasized throughout the course. Upon completion, you should know them well.
The author makes it clear right here that these so-called "principles" are going to pervade the "science" text and that the goal of the text is not to teach science, but to ensure that the students accepts these "principles".
The author reinforces this in his comments at the beginning of the textbook:
You are living at an exciting time. In the next several years extremely important decisions are going to be made, and you will play a role in making them. These decisions will affect: the position of your country in the world of nations; your feeling of who you are and how you relate to others and the environment around you; the standard of living you will have; and , the amount of personal freedom you will enjoy. Many of these deicions are related to energy, resources, and environment.
How well we make these decisions in large part depends upon how well we understand the issues. It is the purpose of this course to build basic background for understanding energy/resource/environment benefits and problems. This is not just another science course. The problems we will be dealing with are in the here and the now. You will find that the road you travel as you work through these pages can be an exciting journey--if you have the proper attitude.
Science is a tool at our disposal. It is a powerful tool, and it will play an important role at this turning point in time. What is exponential growth? How bad is the energy/resource/environmental problem? Does the Earth have a carrying capacity? Can we live better with less? What are our alternatives? How do we get there from here?
Studying these materials won't provide all the answers, but you will be much better prepared to face many issues because of your experiences in this course.
This makes it abundantly clear what the goals of the "science" text are. By mingling science (a "tool at our disposal") with a collection of socialistic, radical environmentalist, and zero-population growth garbage, as long as student has the "proper attitude", will mold them to have the mindset that the author intends. The goal is not to provide the student with an understanding of a specific science because, as the author states, "this is not just another science course."
It gets worse.
Chapter 3 is all about Growth and Population. In fact, population problems appear throughout the entire text. The references used are typically the Ehrlich's disproven zero-population junk science philosophy. References also come from the Club of Rome's 1971 "Limits to Growth" study which is more zero-population, one-worlder garbage. Chapter 3 is quite offensive as it compares humans to bacteria, discusses abortion as an acceptable form of population control, and even includes diagrams of several birth control methods and devices. So offensive was this chapter that the original school who used this book removed the most offensive 10 pages. I found out about that content while using Google and reading a fairly positive review of the book and that content. I spoke to the Director of my children's school and he knew nothing about the book, its contents, and the excised portion.
Throughout the book are several political cartoons. One shows an Earth covered with people, so many so that they are hanging on the bottom and some are tumbling off the bottom into space. Others depict a cowboy, an indian, and a dead buffalo and it mocks the evil and stupid cowboy for wanting to slaughter more buffalo. Another shows a baby with a globe for a head labeled "population" with a big mouth and a farmer bringing food to the baby. Each progressive frame shows the baby's head and mouth growing larger, the farmer's bushel of food also growing larger, then finally the farmer has aged, the bushel is empty, and it appears the huge mouth is going to swallow the farmer who has stumbled to the ground. Another cartoon shows factories with stacks belching smoke, denuded trees, clouded skies, pipes spewing pollution into a waterway, and dead animals around it. The evil suit-wearing capitalist has his arm around his son and is captioned as saying, "Someday, my boy, this will all be yours." Pure propaganda.
Further propaganda found in the book includes NASA images of the so-called "ozone hole" over the South Pole. The images are displayed to make the student believe that the "hole", which is in fact just a natural period thinning, is there at all times. It makes no mention of the natural processes (volcanic activity, cold season weather differentials, solar cycles) that actually cause the thinning. Another example, in the chapter called "Food, Agriculture, and Population Interactions" shows a shrouded women with an emaciated dead-looking naked infant in her lap. The caption says, "Ten million children around the world live like this." This is science?
In the same chapter that contained the starved baby photo, is the section on "Global Cooperation." And I quote:
Surviving children are the parents' only hope for care in their old age. But how do you enable their children to live longer? How do you guarantee care for the elderly? This probably can't be accomplished without some redistribution of wealth, either within a country or between countries. China did it, but with violent revolution. Can redistribution take place without a revolution? Some say it can...
At present we have enough food, and we have the means to deliver it to those that are starving. What we lack is the ability to communicate with others who have different beliefs, attitudes, and world views. Skill in conflict resolution seems to be our real lack. We must pledge to keep working at improving it.
This is science!!? I don't think so.
This stuff is not just hidden in the text of the chapters, but is included in the exercises at the end of each chapter and likely will be on the tests. The students are still in chapter 1 and the teacher has already assigned an essay on one of the most offense portions of the book.
The teacher of this class is an outspoken atheist. The essay assignment for students to write how they agree or disagree with the principles and laws in the 1st chapter appears to be an attempt for the students to expose their immature (they're 8th graders) disagreements with the statements so that the teacher can categorize the students, soften them up by openly or subtly attacking their disagreements or beliefs, and/or by opening then up to criticism from their peers.
I have made an appointment with the school's director to discuss these matters. I'm looking for further information from those who would like to comment on the book and its content. As you can see, I've already formed a strong basis for my arguments that I will use with the school's director and the science teacher. I would appreciate further input to help strengthen those arguments or to develop new ones to ensure that this problem is promptly corrected.
This is a good charter school despite some of the flaws we've found. We're going to work with the school to help resolve those flaws. I'm confident that we're going to have this issue resolved by next week.
2) Don't be nice! Photocopy your essay and give it to every parent who has a child in the school, and to the principal, all teachers, the board of directors, and students. 3) Make sure it is on every message board on the internet, and to all your legislators. Make certain that the teacher, principal, board of directors, and all parents and students know that your essay is being widely disseminated.
I will only consider this option if the school and teacher do not resolve this situation to my satisfaction. Again, I'm confident that this problem will be resolved.
4) Negotiating with the principal, teacher, and or the Charter School board is a wast of time.
We've already got the curriculum director on our side. And since the teacher is not using the approved and purchase science curriculum, he may have no choice but to make an immediate change. I have a friend on the school board who is a member of my church, a Republican, and a strong conservative. I've got her on my side. The school director happens to be a pastor of an evangelical Christian church. Given his beliefs and the reaction he displayed yesterday when I only gave him a couple of details leads me to believe that we'll have him completely on our side as soon as he is presented with all of the evidence. The principal is just too busy with running the day-to-day operations of the school to even involve him.
If things don't go well today, I'm prepared to up the ante. I've gone toe-to-toe with various people and companies in the past and I'm very adept at making life difficult until a problem is resolved.
I made my case and they immediately agreed with what I had to say. The Principal pulled out his copy and showed a couple of stickies he'd put in the book himself.
We displayed the textbooks we had borrowed from the curriculum director that were the ones that the teacher was supposed to be using.
We were told that the point was moot. That the teacher was going to use the correct textbooks.
Something didn't feel right, so I pressed the issue. I asked if the book was going to be removed immediately and an actual science book be used in its place. I got a defense about the teacher using several science books to teach the class and that the correct textbooks would be one of them. I was told that teachers are entitled to their beliefs. I was told that maybe, possibly (baloney) the teacher was using this stack of pseudo-science textbooks to teach the children to think critically. They had no proof of this, but they presented that defense anyway. They hadn't even talked to the teacher about it.
I firmly shot down each and every argument. I got them to agree that the crappy textbook would be removed from the 8th grade next week and the new textbooks would be used instead.
Then I asked about the 9th and 10th grades which were also using that fake "science" textbook. They said that this was the only textbook they have for those grades and that they don't have money to purchase any others. We talked about alternatives, but there were few. We pressed the issue that they need a better curriculum approval process (this one slipped through, they said, but they're still going to allows its continued use in some grades).
We looked at the textbooks and saw that they were only used 1 year at the previous school that owned it. We confirmed that it was the previous school that had the most offense content excised from the book. We said that should be a clue to the school that they got bad textbooks.
The principal and director said that they would like to use the textbooks and my writeup about them as an exercise in critical thinking for the higher grades. I said that was an excellent idea, as long as they stop calling them "science" books when they're not science books.
Beyond pulling them out of the 8th grade next week, they wouldn't commit to anything. I will keep pressuring them and helping them find alternatives to the textbook as nobody should ever have to be subjected to the garbage that is in the books.
So, we won a limited victory and at least our daughter's class will no longer be using the books.
Good for you !! NOW, check and see if they are using a math program called " Everday Math" or Chicago Math . This is on par with the Global Science Series . The way math is taught in this series is beyond belief . You cant even balance a checkbook with the type of subtraction operation presented . Then see if they are using a " whole languge " program . This was stsrted on the " left coast ' and was so inept that they trashed it in Los Angeles .
No, they're using Saxon Math. That's one of the reasons we enrolled our kids there.
Great work! Thanks for speaking up about this.
The so-called "fundamental laws and principles of human ecology" that the entire book uses as its foundational basis are quite dubious. They are unsourced and any attempt at locating a legitimate source for the opinion-base pseudo science blather have only pointed to bizarre sources like "EcoMagic" and other witchcraft/wiccan resources.
The students in the class are supposed to turn in their written essays and make an oral presentation on the "principles" tomorrow. My daughter will likely not be ready to do so, but we'll see what she has ready by then. We will attend the class as, I'm sure, will the principal and the director.
If this problem is not resolved to our satisfaction tomorrow, I'm going to publish here the name of the school and the contact information for all involved parties. Maybe some outside pressure would be useful. Also, I am close friends with a conservative radio talk show host in nearby Tucson and I'm sure a few investigative phone calls from him on this issue would help too. Then, putting the situation on his show would further add pressure to the teacher and the school to fix this. If we still can't budge them, I'll shop this around to some of the national level radio talk show hosts and conservative magazines to see if they're interested in covering it.
I was OK with having them remove the book from the 8th grade and transition to another book in the 9th and 10th when they were ready and had sufficient textbook resources to replace it. I'm not longer satisfied with that solution and will insist upon the book being removed from the school entirely.
BTW keep tabs on the comments that this teacher makes to your child.
Have no fear the FReepers will follow through if this guy keeps up with this game.
A suggestion take this to the next step to the Dept. of Education for your state. I am sure they would be very interested to hear the text that he is using. As I told you earlier all lesson plans must be recorded and must follow local and state requirements.
UPDATE: My daughter was up very late last night working on her essay. My wife helped her considerably as did the comments in this thread. She decided that the best thing to do was to write an essay somewhat like what was assigned. The assignment was to write an essay giving your opinion on whether you agree or disagree with each of the fake "laws and principles". She wrote a short introductory paragraph and then talked about each "law or principle". Those which were opinion, value statements, or just plain nutty and wrong she took to task by stating so. She ended with a paragraph about how such opinions don't belong in a science book and that it calls the whole science book into question. I'll try to post it later.
My wife and I will sit in on her class this morning and we will meet afterwards with the administrators to get an update from them about why the teacher is still using the fake science book. I will probably warn them that I am going to have to escalate things until the textbook is gone. Basically, I want them to know that their lives will be far easier if they use the brand new real science textbooks that they purchased and have unused, onhand right now or they can have me make their lives difficult until they do. They don't know how experienced I am at such things and what resources I have at my disposal or they would have already taken appropriate action. I guess that they may be about to find out.
I'll keep everyone up to date as to the outcome this morning and what the administrators say and do. Soon, I may need to post contact information online here and see if I can get some FReeper help in applying pressure on the school.
Good for you and I'm sure a number of us here will be pleased to jump in. Thanks for the update.
good for you!
count me in for the action
Looks as if your daughter is about to obtain a real education on this.
It is interesting that the school didn't have the teacher in on your meetings. Something is odd. The teacher may not be able to handle the pressure of being questioned.
Thanks for the update, God Bless you and your family. Please keep me in the ping list for any further update.
I think the poster originally said that these books were bought with funds from the "teacher's pocket," which makes the story even more dubious.
It is obvious why no one is allowed to bring that textbook home. Might as well teach the Communist Manifesto as science.
Sounds like an excellent essay. I hope your child is prepared to get a 'D' on it.
You made the right move by having your child write an essay and respond to the assignment. Now no one can say that you're trying to cover for a kid who's not doing the work.
You say that this is a private school. If so, how then can the teacher defy the principal in this matter? You were also right to insist that this ersatz "science" book be taken out entirely, instead of being one of the texts used. Be sure that if that compromise had been accepted, it would be the one used 90% of the time.
As far as the 9th and 10th grade books go, I'd wager that there's plenty of material on the Internet that could be used, even entire courses.
Please keep us updated, and keep up the good work.
Suddenly I have this overwhelming compulsion to go hug a tree.
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