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Michigan school lends a hand to anti-Americanism
I wasnât sure if this should be Home Front or Fifth Column, because it mentions Chomsky.Some parents in Farmington, Mich., are crying "anti-Americanism" over a high school international affairs class. The course is offered to juniors and seniors in the Farmington School District and focuses on Americaâs role in the Middle East. A fairly unbalanced view it appears. But itâs not the topic thatâs angered some studentsâ parents. Itâs the class readings, many of which come from left-wing Web sites like Alternet.org, Indymedia.org, Progressive.org and War-times.org, that vigorously attack the Bush administration. Great! Public education just got easier. Let websites do the teaching. This belief that we have to show that every concept out of that society can be understood and excused is really a problem across the country," said Farmington father Don Cohen. "We are bending over backwards and by doing so, weâre misrepresenting and misinforming our children and our society." Yep. Farmington superintendent of schools, Robert Maxfield, defended the course, saying high school juniors and seniors should be critical thinkers and should be exposed to many points of view. Critical of only one part of the problem. Do they teach them to only look at one part of a math problem? Pro-Bush materials, such as government Web sites like WhiteHouse.gov, were added to the classâ reading list â only after parents complained that the course was an exercise in political correctness. The extra sources help balance the courseâs curriculum and offer support to President Bushâs policies and Americaâs role in the Middle East. That says it all, doesnât it? Still, the school board stopped short of removing author Noam Chomskyâs controversial book "9-11" â in which he writes about why he thinks the U.S. is a terrorist state â from the list of course materials. Weâll, thankfully they didnât cut Chomsky, it would have been one sided then. "Thatâs the bias inbred into this curriculum," Cohen fumed. Posted by: Mike N. 2003-08-26 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17999 |