Please Comment!! Social Studies Standards Continue Disastrous Course in Final Draft!

The third draft of the social studies standards is now available for a final public comment period.  Comments may be submitted here until May 8th.

Although some good change has come out of the social studies standards process which is now in its final phases, thanks to your good efforts and comments, sadly, many of the same problems plus some others we have found are present since our last report. A more detailed report on the U.S. History strand is coming soon from an attorney who teaches the Constitution.  Below are some highlights and lowlights.

Some Good News:

1)      The Declaration of Independence is now mentioned and discussed at the high school level:

“Analyze the impact of early documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, on the development of the government of the United States.”

2)      One Declaration principle of “popular sovereignty,” also called “consent of the governed” is specifically mentioned.

3)      Property rights are mentioned in the context of the failure to secure them being an economic problem.

4)      The Second Amendment is mentioned, which is better than the federally subsidized civics textbook. We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution that fails to mention the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments at all.

5)      Capitalism is now mentioned in a neutral context instead of a negative one in economics and the world history strands:

“Compare and contrast the characteristics of traditional, command (planned), market-based (capitalistic), and mixed economic systems.”
“Explain the ideas of capitalism, communism, and socialism and analyze the impact of these beliefs on politics, industry, and labor relations in later 19th-century Europe.”

6)      The United States is still referred to as a republic in the standards and benchmarks:

“The U.S. republic is based on specific principles and beliefs.” (Standard)

Many Grave Causes of Concern – Here is a far from comprehensive list:

1)      Inherent, “unalienable,” or God-given rights as stated in the examples listed in the Declaration of Independence as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are never mentioned, despite the fact that the founders’ understanding of these rights was the bedrock upon which our Constitution was written and what has distinguished the American form of government from every other in the history of the world.

2)      This draft also continues to leave out other Declaration principles such as self-evident truth and national sovereignty.

3)      As stated in the following benchmark, the idea that the US Constitution is a changeable, living, breathing document,  instead of a set of fixed principles that have made this republic the longest enduring, most stable government in history is promoted:

“Evaluate how constitutionalism and the federal, state and local governments preserve fundamental societal values, protect individual freedoms and rights, promote the general welfare, and respond to changing circumstances and beliefs.”

4)      There is a much greater emphasis on slavery and treatment of indigenous cultures and other problems especially in American history than on the accomplishments and triumphs of the founding and subsequent American culture.

5)      Our previously mentioned concern that the word liberty is only mentioned once and that it is not mentioned as an unalienable right or in the context of the sacrifices made in its defense remain.

6)      Securing these inherent rights has made the United States the freest, most prosperous, and most generous nation in the history of the world.  Yet the concept of American exceptionalism is nowhere to be found in these standards.

7)      Although religious freedom is now mentioned in this draft, it is only in the context of the indigenous people in America before the European settlers arrived.  Religion is mentioned once in high school world history as a “motivation” for European “exploration and expansion.”  However, the quest for religious freedom is never mentioned at all in American history as an integral part of the American founding.  Despite the apparent and significant anti-religious bias of this committee, that is a huge historical error.

8)      The anti-religious and anti-traditional BCE/CE convention continues.

9)      Although states’ rights are mentioned, it is only in the context of the Civil War, there is no discussion of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution, whereas other amendments such as the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th Amendments are specifically mentioned.  The Ninth and Tenth Amendments are the bedrock liberties that states have to stand against an ever encroaching federal government, such as in the health care or education debates, for example.

10)   There is no discussion of great or prominent historical figures in American or world history and only a very broad mention of specific historical eras rather than specific seminal events.

11)   While there are mentions and descriptions of markets in a neutral sense or negative sense, there continues to be no mention of the benefits of free market economics and the resultant prosperity that that system has produced, especially for the United States as the freest, most prosperous, and most generous nation in the history in the world.

12)   While capitalism is at least mentioned in a neutral context instead of a negative one as cited above in economics and world history, it is mentioned as problematic in US history.  Students are only required to compare and contrast capitalism to communism or “planned economies” and socialism. There is a moral equivalency between the various economies and political systems. There is neither guidance about the evils, deprivation, and death that communism and socialism have caused nor any discussion of the benefits of capitalism.

Please consider commenting on these standards. The deadline is May 8^th. It is critical that the views of parents and citizens be acknowledged in this process and that Minnesota students continue to be taught America’s invaluable heritage of freedom.

Please also consider asking your legislators to support the language in the House education finance bill currently in conference committee by Rep. Sondra Erickson that delays implementation of these standards and requires legislative approval.