Social Studies Standards Petition Letter Now Available – Please Sign and Share

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The petition letter (http://edlibertywatch.org/social-studies-standards-petition/) opposing the proposed Minnesota social studies standards to administrative law judge Barbara Nielson is now ready to be signed.  We will collect signatures and then forward them with the letter to the judge, who will accept this letter and signatures as written testimony.  It will only take a couple of minutes. Please sign, including your full name and address, which will not be visible on our website and share with your social networks.  The deadline is Wednesday, January 9th at 4:30 PM Central Time.  You do not need to be a Minnesota resident to sign the letter.  If you wish to submit your own individual testimony, you may email it to the judge at rulecomments@state.mn.us.   Please be sure to reference OAH Docket No. 11-1300-30011 in your comments.

Other details and some of the testimony against the standards are available here and here. Some other testimony that we did not have is available from the hearing here. Other written testimony will also be up on this site very soon.  Thank you for your support and help!

Social Studies Standards Hearing Report

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Many thanks to all who were able to give oral testimony at the December 20th social studies standards hearing. The large hearing room at the Minnesota Department of Education building was nearly full.  The vast majority of testifiers were overwhelmingly opposed to the new standards.  Witnesses were armed with facts and passionate eloquence.  Department officials seemed surprised and a little dismayed at the level, intensity and detail of the opposition. Although we do not have all the testimony that was presented, we were able to obtain some of it from those that graciously provided it. See below for links and quotes from some of this excellent testimony.  In addition, negative comments about the standards are coming in from several important groups and individuals.  The judge has granted the full 20 days period for written comments, meaning the record will close on January 9th.  Details for submitting written comments may be found here. If you cannot do written comments, we will have more information about a petition just after Christmas. Thank you for your support!  May all of the joys and blessings of Christmas, Hanukkah, and the New Year come to you and yours.

Witnesses against the standards included parents, grandparents, business owners, a former citizen of communist Poland, two college professors, a former AP biology teacher, and two legislators.  Education Liberty Watch’s testimony was delivered by attorney Marjorie Holsten.

In addition, there have been important comments from the Minnesota House Republican leadership,  new commentary from Dr. John Fonte of the Hudson Institute as we previously mentioned, and important testimony from the American Principles Project about the link of these social studies  to the Common Core English standards. All of these are also quoted and linked below.

As witnessed by the length of time it has taken to get out this report, we know it is very busy this time of year. To that end, we hope to introduce some sort of petition mechanism to help you weigh in against these awful standards and still spend this important time with your family and friends.  More news will be forthcoming.

Finally, we do know that it is a busy time of year and this is a bad economy, but there are monetary costs to the work that we do.  Any tax deductible financial help that can be directed to Education Liberty Watch as you consider your year end giving so that we may continue to stand for academic excellence, perpetuating our republic and protecting the rights of parents to raise their children would be most appreciated.

ORAL TESTIMONY QUOTES AND LINKS:

Education Liberty Watch Prepared Oral Testimony Delivered by Marjorie Holsten 

“Based on the forgoing as well as the more detailed information we will submit, we believe that for the sake of academic rigor, the cultural literacy and ability of Minnesota students to function as citizens able to maintain the freedoms of our republic, the fulfillment of legislative intent, and state autonomy, that these standards should be rejected or at least significantly modified and that the 2004 standards should be kept until that happens. Thank you.”  

Remarks Prepared for Oral Testimony of Representative-Elect Cindy Pugh

“Finally as a newly elected legislator about to be sworn in for the first time, it pains me to see violations of legislative intent, as well as how state sovereignty is being violated in education both by the mandates of No Child Left Behind and the creeping imposition of a national curriculum via the linking of the Common Core English standards to the social studies standards.”

Continue reading »

Prepared Social Studies Standards Hearing Testimony of Carter Glendenning

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Submitted by Carter H Glendenning, World traveler, Sr Citizen. Grandfather

Subject: Change to the Mn Social Studies Standards that are to begin 2013.

Dated: Dec 20, 2012

Thank you Judge Neilson for allowing me time to speak on this important topic.

This country was founded on Liberty for all i.e. Freedom, American Exceptionalism, Liberty & Religious tolerance.

Going right to the point, elimination is needed of the repeated theme of “American Conquest of indigenous people, ethnic divisions, slavery, territorial expansion and the institutionalization of racism, ethnic & class conflict” [reference page 85 & 94 of Sonar] —- These themes are a constant thru out the grades beginning in the early grades.

This drags down the entire curriculum & will turn off the students from learning. These young people will think less of themselves -kinda like this thing called ‘white guilt’. Kids are people, people shy away from such negativism. I have spent a goodly amount of time in other countries both living and working. No other country that I know has its educational system so down on its country. Perhaps that is because we are a free people. But, compared to the other countries you cite in these documents, does this document represent a level playing field? No.

This country was founded on liberty including religion. Most all the early writings of this country –from the 1600’s thru the writings of Ronald Reagan have a salute to the Almighty & thanking him. This document is written as though there is no religion, but there is! Whenever tragedy comes, the first things American people do is go to church. This document is in denial. I would expect this document to be written in Russia in the 1920’s, not here.

While talking of the struggles of the women here and around the world, there is no mention of the whipping, stoning, beating & isolation given women by men in the Islamic world as well as in America as they follow their Sharia law.

Regarding the former black slaves, and American Indians, this document emphasizes how bad we were, but says nothing of our help, giving both financially and of our love & time.

I received an email on Tuesday, from Dr Dennis Peterson, Supt of Mtka School system saying that there is too much of a rush to implement these standards, meaning that we need to balance what today’s thinking is vs. those of yesterday’s history. Remember History is the great TEACHER.

Keep in mind, if America was not such a good country, people would not be waiting for years to get in, sneaking across borders, etc. Securing inherent rights has made America the freest, most prosperous, and most generous nation in the history world. Yet American exceptionalism is completely absent from these standards. Instead, there is an incredibly out of balance emphasis on the concept of America as an oppressive culture with an almost obsessive focus on racism, slavery, wrongs done to indigenous people.

It concerns me that one of your main witness’ for this document [Dr Beth Aune], heads up her church’s Social Justice Council.  I would have hoped that a more neutral person would be involved and I suggest that she [Dr Aune] recluse herself from all future proceedings.

Some  University of Mn Professors held a Nat’l conference on Social Justice in Bloomington, approx 2 years ago. It was held to amplify something they called “white privilege” OR as a local newspaper columnist called “white guilt”. The story line was white males have been taking advantage of indigenous people, blacks and women. Does that sound familiar. For those historians, Social Justice comes from the time of & philosophy Karl Marx.

I suggest we maintain the current standards, and begin working on a document that extols the virtues of America

Thank you for your kind consideration

Prepared Social Studies Standards Hearing Testimony of Representative-Elect Cindy Pugh

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Good Morning.  My name is Cindy Pugh and I’m speaking today as a concerned citizen.

Thank you Judge Nielson for this opportunity to testify today to express my concerns about the new academic social studies standards before you. My concerns come from several sources.

First, as a mother who is deeply concerned about the future of my children and those of this state and nation, it is very disturbing to me to see the loss of academic rigor and cultural literacy when comparing the 2004 version of these standards to the 2011 version.  There seems to be a loss of historically important people and events from a wide diversity of races, ethnicities, cultures and political viewpoints.  These vary from Ronald Reagan to Martin Luther King to Mao Zedong or from the Cold War to Western Civilization. Opposition to these standards emanates from groups with a wide variation of political thought, from Education Liberty Watch to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Secondly, as a co-founder of the Southwest Metro Tea Party concerned about fidelity to the Constitution and fiscal responsibility, I am alarmed to see the lack of clarity in teaching foundational principles, such as that of government’s role to protect the foundational and unalienable rights of life, liberty and property and other important concepts, the understanding of which is crucial for students growing into citizens that can and will maintain our republic.  I also believe that knowledge of economics and how to recognize when there is too much government interference in the economy is very important as well.

Finally as a newly elected legislator about to be sworn in for the first time, it pains me to see violations of legislative intent, as well as how state sovereignty is being violated in education both by the mandates of No Child Left Behind and the creeping imposition of a national curriculum via the linking of the Common Core English standards to the social studies standards.

I’d like to end with two quotes which have informed my thoughts and passion for this issue.  The first is by James Madison: “A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.”  The second is by George Washington: “A primary object…should be the education of our youth in the science of government.  In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing…than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”

I agree with many of the other testifiers here today that these standards should either be rejected in their entirety or at least substantially modified with the 2004 standards kept in place unless or until one of those things should happen.

Thank you for your time.

[Note: This post has been updated to reflect some additions that Representative-elect Pugh made at the hearing]