Reasons Number 5,042 and 5,043 to Pull your Kids out of Public School and either Homeschool or send them off to a Private School

Required Gay History Studies for California Public Schools on Moonbeam’s Desk

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (The Blaze/AP) — California lawmakers on Tuesday sent the governor a bill that would make the state the first requiring public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum.

The bill, passed on a party-line vote, adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as people with disabilities to the list of groups that schools must include in the lessons. It also would prohibit material that reflects adversely on gays.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco says SB48 is crucial because of the bullying that happens to gay students. Republicans called it a well-intentioned but ill-conceived bill and raised concerns that it would indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality.

“This bill will require California schools to present a more accurate and nuanced view of American history in our social science curriculum by recognizing the accomplishments of groups that are not often recognized,” said Assembly Speaker John Perez, the first openly gay speaker of the California Assembly.

SB48 would require, as soon as the 2013-2014 school year, the California Board of Education and local school districts to adopt textbooks and other teaching materials that cover the contributions and roles of sexual minorities.

The legislation leaves it to local school boards to decide how to implement the requirement. It does not specify a grade level for the instruction to begin.

Opponents argued that such instruction would further burden an already crowded curriculum and expose students to a subject that some parents find objectionable. Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, said the bill micromanages the classroom.

“Our founding fathers are turning over in their graves,” Donnelly said.

The Assembly passed the bill on a 49-25 vote.

MY guess is that teachings of the Protestant Reformation were tossed out of CA schools long ago.

Could we mandate US history first? You know…like the Constitution, how the country was founded and who all the founding fathers were…or is our sexuality suddenly the most important defining factor in who we are now?

Kevin Jennings must be loving this.

 

The Second Reading…

Illinois no longer Requiring Junior Year Writing Tests to save $2.4 Million Dollars a Year

Chicago Tribune

Illinois is down to just reading and arithmetic.

Writing skills will no longer be tested during the state’s standardized exams for high school juniors every spring.

The Chicago Tribune reports that eliminating the writing exams will save about $2.4 million amid the state’s budgetary shortfalls.

Illinois had already dropped writing assessments for elementary and middle school students last year.

State Schools Superintendent Christopher Koch (cook) says writing is one of the most expensive things to assess. And Koch says the state is trying to minimize the damage done by budget cuts.

Federal law doesn’t require or fund writing tests. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, public schools are evaluated based on their reading and math test results.

$2.4 Million a year?  Couldn’t the state renegotiate some Teacher Union Contracts like cutting some of the huge ass pensions to start to get the tests reinstated?