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.
Good write-up. Your daughter's science teacher is a sneaky bastard. He should not be trusted.
I tend to agree with your son's History teacher. The thank you note should simply thank the speaker for his time. Simple courtesy.
It would have been best if he had questioned the speaker in class so that the debate could have been presented to your son's classmates, however I do understand shyness. Perhaps your son could include a list of questions to the speaker with his thank you note (which would show interest in the topic without insulting the speaker), and suggest that he answer them on a return visit (or to the History teacher). Such as:
(a) is the Islam concept of "peace" the same as the Western or Christian concept of "peace"?,
(b) why are nearly all of the terrorists in the world Muslim?
(c) why are all of the world's present conflicts on the edges of Islamic civilization?
(d) why was Margaret Hassan beheaded?
I think you should both encourage your son to be polite, and applaud his protest.
Your son has a really good opportunity to learn the art of persuasion here, and of learning the difference between being strident (which is alienating and never wins arguments), snd of really trying to win people over -- which always requires class, tact and an ability to reach people on a heart level.
I really do applaud you for your dedication here. You are doing a great job. Your kids are very lucky. Thanks for the update.
Your son makes me have so much hope for our future! There was nothing wrong with the content but he might have said it a little less bluntly (e.g. I really enjoyed your talk but I was curious if there was a reason why you didn't specifically mention torture, honor killings, blah, blah, blah) but he's a kid! Plenty of time to learn diplomacy.
I commend you and your wife and your children too! How I wish I could read more stories like this. Thank God the principal seems decent. The science teacher is a zealot and he should not be bringing his "religion" into this science class if you ask me.
Thanks for the update!
I have a couple to add:
-Why are honor killings allowed in their culture/society?
-Are women treated with respect in this culture?
-Of the countries rated as "bad" (or lowest) regarding quality of living, technical advancements, etc., why are the top 7 of 10 the countries that have muslims as their majority?
I have more but this is a few.
What could possibly be construed as "strange" to a layman that would be a normal occurrence? Please enlighten me.
In History class yesterday one of the high school teachers had come over and given a presentation on Islam. This teacher served as a Christian missionary in an Islamic country. He mentioned that he had to do so secretly or he could have been killed for trying to convert Muslims.
I think that this teacher, by serving as a missionary and mentioning that he could have be killed if discovered, isn't the enemy of you or your son. I think this might be a good opportunity to teach your son about being politely critical to people who are generally on your side and being more strongly critical of those on the other side. There are any number of reasons why this teacher might have taken a soft approach toward Islam and class time is limited. And, frankly, I'd argue that public schools should be teaching children to hate Islam, anyway.
I agree with you. I never said that my son should consider the teacher an enemy, or that the teacher did anything wrong. In fact, the teacher even mentioned that he could have been killed for what he was doing and that he had to keep it a secret while in the Islamic country. And I don't want the school to teach the kids to "hate" Islam, just the full story on what happens inside Islamic countries.
Keep up the good works (and the updates). May God bless you and your family.
Something that stands out for me in your very interesting reports is that school subjects don't seem to mean the same thing as they did when I was the age of your children, and attending public school. 25-30 years ago, "science" was about things that could be observed, measured, calculated, and experimented upon. Label and describe the sub-cellular bodies. Calculate the workload using a single-pulley system, a double-pulley system, etc. What's the result when you combine chlorine and ammonia? (Evacuation of half the school, but that's another story.)
Your daughter's science class isn't about any of those things, but about political philosophy and other, at best, "soft" sciences. If there is any genuine science content, you have not yet mentioned it.
World history, when I studied it, contained facts about things that happened in the past in various parts of the world. We didn't have comparative religion presentations or attend fantasy films under the heading of "world history," although that might have been appropriate in a literature class.
I don't know whether this replacement of factual with opinion-based content is something that has happened generally with the passage of time, or whether it's a characteristic of your school/school system in particular, but I would find that trend to be just as disturbing as the ideological slant of the courses.
And regarding your son's letter, I agree with those who said that you've got an opportunity to show him how he could convey the same meaning in a more diplomatic way. What he wrote was not *exactly* rude, but it was very blunt, and some guidance would help him to be more effective in communicating in future.
My wife just got a copy of the letter that my son wrote and it is largely as I described. However, he prefaced the letter with "You are dumb" and it was a direct attack on the teacher. I don't know why the principal and the teacher were not entirely forthcoming about it when my wife was there. My son will certainly be disciplined for such an attack and will have to apologize. He has a right to his convictions and should never hesitate to speak them, but he can't be disrespectful to a teacher or attack them like this.
Actually, it was rude. See my previous post on the matter. We're going to use this as an exercise in how to make your point and how NOT to make your point.
Okay, thanks for the clarification :-). Your original paraphrase was blunt, in a perfectly natural 11-year-old way, but not rude!
I don't let my children listen to talk radio, and one reason is the excesses of expression that presenters can indulge in when they're not going to get a response from people with whom they have to associate in real life. My oldest daughter (14) fancies herself as the next Ann Coulter (or maybe the next generation after that :-), and I've explained that Ms. Coulter's style, verbal and physical, is part of how she "sells" her message to a general audience. In our family parlance, "It's her Act."
Celebrity journalists (or whatever, exactly, they are) need an Act to get attention and sell advertising, but we can have and express strong conservative opinions without an Act, too.
By all means applaud the protest. Your son didn't "attack" anyone by pointing out the ommisions. Stay the course!
You might want to check with a lawyer on the legality of taping conversations, etc. I know that in Illinois you can tape any conversation that you are a part of; e.g., you can tape your own phone calls without telling the person on the other end, but not a phone call between two other parties (without a court order). You don't want to give this science teacher a legitimate way to tie you up in court.
Yeah, but what about when she left the room for the Principal's office? And does that cover conversations in her presence that she's not part of, such as when the teacher is talking to one of the kids?
I'm not opposed to your efforts by any means, I just want to make sure your wife is not unintentionally exposing herself to legal action.
In California, I know charters still have to follow the state guidelines for education. If this is the case in Arizona, I would check to see what 8th graders are supposed to learn. If the text does not follow the state guidelines, then I would bring it up with your board. At least, it is a small number of people you are dealing with.
If the state guidelines talk about this stuff, then you're in for a bigger battle, and there really is not much the charter school can do.
This is my big beef with the public school right now.
I went to a meeting for parents of gifted kids (my kids are), and all the meeting was about was bringing up the scores of gifted kids that didn't do well on the standardized tests.
The district personal actually called science/history/social studies enrichment programs. When did those things become enrichment?????
I'm going to try to transfer my daughters to a charter, but that is going to be difficult because one of my kids is special ed and our district has to okay the transfer.
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