Op/Ed In LA Times By HS Student Who Protested Right-Wing History Text: "I Knew This Was False"

[Hissyspit]

This kid is a true patriot. Matthew LaClair for President '28!

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-laclairapr27,1,4119982.story?track=rss

Give me the lesson without the spin

A high school student finds conservative bias in his American government textbook.

By Matthew LaClair
April 27, 2008
Throughout my life, my teachers have told me that school is a neutral environment where my classmates and I can count on teachers and textbooks to provide us with the factual and unbiased information that will equip us for life. Lately, though, I've begun to wonder whether they really mean it.

In my junior year of high school in New Jersey, my U.S. history teacher used the first week of class to preach his religious beliefs. He told students, among other things, that they "belong in hell" if they reject Jesus as their savior, that evolution and the Big Bang are ridiculous and unscientific theories, and that there were dinosaurs on Noah's Ark.

When I confronted him in the principal's office, he denied making the remarks. What he didn't realize was that I had recorded the classes. But even after I informed school officials what had happened, they ignored my concerns. So after more than a month, my parents and I took the news to the media.

At first, I was harassed and intimidated by other students. School officials ignored the harassment and even a death threat I received.

Only after the story became national news did the school district begin to take us seriously. After lengthy negotiations (and against continuing opposition from the school board), we finally persuaded the district to address the teacher's false and inappropriate remarks. The Anti-Defamation League was brought in to teach the faculty about the separation of church and state, and experts in the fields of church-state separation, evolution and cosmology came to our school to conduct assemblies.

After that, I thought I was done with controversy for a while. But now, in my senior year, I am back in the midst of it. In one of my classes, we use the 10th edition of "American Government" by James Q. Wilson, a well-known conservative academic, and John J. DiIulio, a political scientist and former head of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. (2005). The text contains a statement, repeated three times, that students may not pray in public schools. In this edition of the text, the authors drive the point home with a photograph of students holding hands and praying outside a school. The caption reads: "The Supreme Court will not let this happen inside a public school."

I knew this was false. In fact, students are allowed to pray in schools; courts have ruled many times that a student's right to pray may not be abridged. What's generally impermissible is state-sponsored prayer, in which school officials lead prayer or students are called on or required to pray. It seemed clear to me that the purpose of the discussion in the textbook was to indoctrinate, not to educate.

Continued reading revealed numerous other instances of bias, as well as erroneous and misleading statements. For example, the section on global warming begins with a few well-chosen words to set the tone: "It is a foolish politician who today opposes environmentalism. And that creates a problem because not all environmental issues are equally deserving of support. Take the case of global warming."

MORE

Matthew LaClair is a high school student in Kearny, N.J.

[ccharles000]

1. I am glad he is fighting for what is right.

Thank goodness we live in a country that has separation of church and state.

[wordpix]

17. "not all environmental issues are equally deserving of support" - & to the RWnuts

being pro-environment today is equivalent to being pro-civil rights in the '60's as viewed by repukes back then. In other words, you are persona non grata.

[kevinbgoode]

2. The Right handles education in the same manner they scream

about the "liberal" media. . .and then, when they have the chance to prove themselves more "objective" and "fair and balanced" they give the people this textbook and Faux "News."

One thing that has taught all of us is that whenever the Right accuses others of less-than-honorable motives, it usually means they are the guilty party themselves. Just don't hold your breath waiting for them to accept responsibility - responsibility is a foreign term to them when they have a greater political agenda.

As a college teacher, I get some leeway in the types of information I use to supplement a textbook - and usually look for things which aren't covered very well by the authors (which often still means experiences of minorities are excluded or lumped into sections of "others"). I also stress at the beginning of the semester that their job isn't to regurgitate what they interpret as MY thoughts or ideas, but to incorporate information into THEIRS and show me how they can do that - but I still find I have to remind them of that over and over again. Often this is because their public school years were spent "playing" the teacher - meaning getting the better grade for guessing what ideas they think the teacher is most receptive to in the classroom.

What LaClair points out is how some teachers not only take advantage of their position, but expect students to mirror his/her beliefs - or likely face lower marks. That is just unconscionable.

[malaise]

5. It is way more dangerous than that

The right have been attempting to seize every agent of socialization aka brainwashing.

[jimi_45]

56. Facts and Conservatives

Have you ever scanned the entries at Snopes.com? One that immediately pops out at me is the disproportionately high number of cases of fallacies circulated by conservatives versus those circulated by liberals. I don't think this can be attributed merely to the ostensibly liberal bias of the Mikkelsons or their audience: conservatives are far more likely to accept lies uncritically, spin shit, and/or make shit up than liberals.

[EFerrari]

3. This is appalling. When I think of the public schools I went to

and how nurturing they were for us in every way, my heart breaks for this student and for all of the kids who are facing this kind of hostility.

No faculty member ever imposed their religious beliefs on us. There were no dinosaurs in Noah's ark during science class We had art and music and P.E, and creative writing. We said the pledge but no one who didn't say it was made to feel badly. It was a truly liberal education and we thrived at those schools.

Some of my friends and I walked to catechism after school twice a week. My friend Kerry was Jewish and he would walk part way with us, then go in a different direction for a block or so where he got his own special instruction from a retired teacher. When I subtract us from the size of our class, I realize I don't know if or how the other two thirds worshiped or if they did -- because it wasn't an issue. The question wasn't raised. We had stuff to do. We were kids.

[Dammit Ann]

4. Go baby.

Horrible grammar, the very school system he is railing against is to blame, I'm sure. Still, a fantastic message, I'm rooting for him and his parents. Finally.

[spooky3]

6. I read only the excerpt (not the full article), but I thought his grammar was fine.

What did I miss?

Good work, Mr. LaClair. It's amazing that this happened in New Jersey, rather than a stereotypical Bible Belt area.

[nichomachus]

10. Better grammar than the average American

Orders of magnitude better than some of the college students I've taught -- juniors and seniors. Better than many politicians. Better than the average person who writes letters to the editor (which I used to edit). And, actually, just as good as our local newspaper -- part of a major chain. So, I wouldn't be too hard on the kid.

[BlooInBloo]

32. Yup - gotta be a senior in a writing-oriented field before the average gets better than this kid's.

[TalkingDog]

41. Bad Grammar? Hahahaha....You've never taught have you?

I teach COLLEGE students. I would say this HIGH SCHOOL student's writing is B+ or A- material. I've had students that couldn't, as part of a writing assignment, describe the shape of a rectangle.


Bad grammar....give me a break.

[mwb970]

42. I'm not finding the "horrible grammar".

I read the whole piece twice and it reads fine to me. I do part-time technical editing and spend a lot of time correcting grammatical errors. I wouldn't change anything in this piece.

I did spot one sentence that starts with "but", which a purist could quibble with. I would chalk that up to a conversational writing style and also mention that advertising copy starts sentences with "and" or "but" all the time without bringing out the Grammar Police.

As a final point, the piece was edited by the newspaper and any remaining errors would presumably be the fault of the editor.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

47. "Finally." = Sentence fragment.

A little silly, it is, to see someone, like you, ranting against a kid, such as this, over the grammar, of their article, above. Seriesly.

[LanternWaste]

49. To be on the safe side

To be on the safe side, may we assume the school system is to blame for the grammatical errors in your very own post, or are they a consequence merely of that part of the education system presented to you that you rejected....?

I mean-- we want to be fair an all, yes?

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[tanyev]

8. Awesome! WTG, Matthew!

:applause:

[SpiralHawk]

9. Meegwich, my Clear nephew. Well done.

Speak truth to power.
Speak truth to power.
Speak truth to power.

k and r.

[nolabels]

11. Ah ha, the teacher lied to him

The horrible disinformation of "that they "belong in hell" should not of been tolerated. From the experience of my wife, me and it seems now our children, high school in a real sense actually is Hell.
It just speaks well of humans in general that so many people still are able to make out alive and afterward able to go out and lead productive lives :P

[alarimer]

12. Just one more reason we need to purge the right wing from society.

Rid them from every school board, town council and textbook-approving agency in the country. They are dangerous Fascist assholes.

[formercia]

14. It's going to take decades to reverse the damage they have done

Treasonous bastards they are.

[zeemike]

13. I started school in 1949

And I do not remember a single instance where religion was even mentioned. We started the day with the pledge of allegiance that went; "...one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all". It was only later when it was changed to "under God"
Later I was sent to Catholic school where we had a 30 minute class on catechism but the rest of the classes was strictly academic. And even during the political times of a national election it was fairly conducted by the nuns. They had a debate with two teams each representing each party, but even tho we pestered them to tell us who they supported, Ike or the democrat they refused to say.

In some ways it was a kinder , gentler time when they took seriously the notion of fairness.

[pnorman]

40. "......one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

That's the way I first learned it in 1936, and that's the way I recite to this day. Nowadays, union meetings are the only places where it comes up. There I repeat the word "indivisible", to keep in synch with the others. To the occasional squawks of outrage, I tell them: "That's the King James Version, the ORIGINAL version, and I'm sticking with it!"

pnorman

[zeemike]

53. Good for you Pnorman

That is the way I say it too but no one has ever challenged me on it.
I like calling it the King James version.

[wizstars]

44. I vote for a new pledge:

"I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under law, indvisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Why pledege a leegiance to a piece of cloth?

[pnorman]

54. How about: "Life and Liberty for All Who Believe"?

Check out this neat video, complete with soul-stirring scenes of ("godly") children, gleefully engaging in a book-burning ceremony: http://www.theocracywatch.org/audio-video.htm

Check out all the other video & audio clips on that page.

pnorman

[dflprincess]

50. My first 2 or 3 years of school we started the day with singing a

patriotic song, the pledge and what became know a prayer which, as I recall, began "Oh heavenly Father.." This was in New York State public schools. The nuns at Catechism told us that we were not to say that prayer because it wasn't a Catholic prayer and that we should recite a Hail Mary or Our Father to ourselves while the other kids said this one. I don't recall a single Catholic kid not still saying the prayer (we'd all sneak looks at each other to see who was doing what). It's a terrible thing to find out when you're 6 or 7 that you don't have what it takes to stand up for your faith... I knew right then I'd never get sainthood for being a martyr. :evilgrin:

On the other hand, it was a good experience for me because - 50 years later - I still appreciate how awful it is to shove religion down the throats of a captive audience.

[lunatica]

15. If this kid hadn't already known the truth he would be indoctrinated now

That's how it works. And to some extent American public education has been indoctrinating us for generations. The media is now the propaganda arm of the Executive Branch. An example is we don't question it much when our government refers to us as consumers rather than citizens. If we stop and think about that and what it implies it gets very uncomfortable.

[BlooInBloo]

16. :) There's hope for Ameica, even despite the fact that idiots are the teachers....

... Quadruple base teacher pay immediately, remove any requirements for an "education" degree that may exist, and make teacher professional advancement contingent on advanced degrees in a non-education field.

Once the profession is properly populated by intelligent people, shaming events like this will be minimized.

Good job, kid.

[1monster]

31. The profession is already populated by intelligent people. The majority of teacher

are dedicated teachers who do their best to teach the kids what they need to know and to reason and think for themselves.

They are seriously hampered though by the state and federal governments interfering with not only curriculum, but content, the materials a teacher can use, and the need to teach to really bad tests.

There will always be some who abuse the opportunities that come with teaching, just as there will always be those who do the same with whatever their profession or job is.

Raising teacher pay would be a great thing, but changing the structure and atmosphere of the school away from the authoritarian "reform school" atmosphere that prevails today (not the teacher's fault... School Boards, School Superintendants, and School Admins have a lot to answer for.

[Hissyspit]

18. kick n/t

[bluesmail]

19. when I read there was a photograph in the book of kids

holding hands and praying I thought Indoctrination, period. I've known NCLB is a not-good-for-children, money scheme. After all there is a * involved.

[Richard Steele]

20. K&R

[tbyg52]

21. Hooray for this young patriot!

How that textbook got past the state Board of Education is beyond me. Even here in TX the SBOE just rejected a creationist master's degree in science. (Not that I wasn't surprised by that, mind you....!)

[Uncle Joe]

22. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[mnhtnbb]

23. Hurrah for Matthew LaClair.

[ladym55]

24. A brave and smart kid

Of course I shudder to think of all the schools USING that delightful (?) book by Wilson and DiIulio, now in its TENTH EDITION!!!! Yikes.

[MindPilot]

25. For anyone interested in the full story of the hell this brave young man went through

http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/2007/oct/laclair.php

It's long but a very compelling story.
Here's an excerpt:

Everything changed when he began talking. He was doing exactly what my sister's friends told me about. He began talking about his personal political and religious opinions. Many of the comments were offensive and I felt very uncomfortable.

After two days of that, I decided that this teacher was out of line and out of control, but I was not sure if anybody would do anything about it.

I did not think that it would be a good idea to tell the administration without concrete proof. Mr. Paszkiewicz had been teaching at Kearny High for many years (14 as it turned out) and had also been a student there, and was a friend of the principal, who had taught him and coached him as a student athlete. Mr. Paszkiewicz made it clear that he was on an evangelical mission to spread the word of God.

Fortunately, I had a device which allowed for audio recording for a long period of time. So starting on Sept. 13, I began recording the classes.

From Sept. 13-15, the class was told that all the biblical prophecies have come true, dinosaurs were on Noah's ark and all nonChristians belong in hell. He also dismissed evolution and the big bang as nonscientific in favor of biblical creationism, while mocking teachers and scientists who develop and teach these scientific ideas. He said, "I don't need to go out and slaughter Muslims, I just need to debate them and they're done." He said that if his son told him that he did not want to go to church, he would "break his backside, and have a little attitude adjustment." Meanwhile, when a student told Mr. Paszkiewicz about his own religious beliefs that he got from his mother and his pastor, Mr. Paszkiewicz's response was "don't buy it." Not only was he often hypocritical, but what I have told you is the tip of a very large iceberg.

Each evening as I brought the recordings home, my father's reaction can best be described as a mix of Jack Nicholson's and Jim Carrey's wildest film roles. To paraphrase a few of my dad's comments, this teacher was out of his. . . well, you can fill in your own words here.

The second week of class I was out sick. I can only imagine what was said during the week I was out. When I returned on Sept. 25, I had written and signed a letter complaining about Mr. Paszkiewicz's remarks. After I gave the letter to our principal, Mr. Somma, the first thing he did was show it to Mr. Paszkiewicz, along with my signature-- not exactly what I had in mind, but I was prepared to do what had to be done.

When class started that day, there was no doubt that Mr. Paszkiewicz had been spoken to. The class, which had grown accustomed to, let's call them free-flowing discussions, suddenly found that Mr. Paszkiewicz wasn't willing to speak about those things any more. When one student complained about it, Mr. Paszkiewicz commented that he would like to keep talking about those things, but that if he did, someone might change his words. I had my recorder on that day as well.

[orleans]

28. thanks for that link. i sat and read the entire 6 pages of it.

what a great kid.

[G_j]

26. K&R

[knitter4democracy]

27. As my Ed in Am. Society prof said,

School districts never change anything unless they're forced to, usually through a lawsuit. The older I get and the more I read, the more I think that was the one thing he was right about.

[orleans]

29. great story. thanks for posting this. k&r. n/t

[ebt12]

30. The fact that this kid is paying attention and

is questioning what he has read is a testament to him. That the school district ignored the whole situation and his protests until the school district suddenly got the spotlight shows how what the district thinks of its students, and possibly their support for the right-wing views of the text.

I spent 12 years in Catholic schools, and I thought they were bad! I wonder how prevalent the case of the public school in other school districts across the country?

[Skittles]

33. gives me hope when I see young folk like this - yes INDEED

welcome to DU, ebt12 :hi:

[Heathen57]

34. K&R

Too disgusted to say any more.

[Jamastiene]

35. That kid rocks!

:yourock:

I love it. There IS hope for our future after all.

[DeSwiss]

36. K&R!!!

If you can find a copy anywhere, online, in the library, wherever, you should read:

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868">The Lies My Teacher Told Me

[unpossibles]

46. great book - should be required reading

but of course would never be.

What saddens me about this story, is that the lying right wingers (I know, somewhat repetitive there...) will point to this as an example of how the liberal schools won't allow "honest and balanced" discussion, that the right is somehow repressed and can't get their message out (see: Expelled - or rather, don't see it).

I find it amusing and sad that pretty much everything the right complains about, they are guilty of tenfold, like some extreme projection.

[DeSwiss]

51. It should be required reading...

...for the whole country as I see it. But then who wants to read the truth these days? Especially when that truth is so uncomplementary to the narrative we've had going for all these years? Yet its the current narrative that is the reason why we will very likely never be able resolve most of our underlying problems of race and class in this country. Because what most people know about our history, are really the more "comfortable" lies.

Repukes often project in their lame yammerings, which are the very opposite of the ideas they seek to force onto progressives. When they say "fair and balanced," they mean "filtered and slanted." When they claim they can't get their message out, what they really want is for us to just STFU!

But facts can be terrible things for Repukes. Which is why they avoid them and mostly appeal to people's more primitive aspects of human emotions. Like immigration. Its a form of racism that's acceptable because the underlying problem revolves around the legalities of it. And yet their own financial supporters are generally the cause of the problems since they're the ones hiring them. They will pull out the flag and trumpet god all day long, and appeal to emotions of jingoism, nationalism and the BIG GUY in the SKY. Because the facts put the lie to their words. So who needs facts?

- From their view, we don't need an economic plan, we don't need better healthcare, we don't need to get out of Iraq. What everyone needs are flag lapel pins...

[L. Coyote]

37. Rec #50. Say NO to BS!

[krkaufman]

38. Well, there's one ray of hope for the future of the country.

Sidenote... This isn't Kansas or Oklahoma, folks, it's New Jersey, so you might want to check what textbooks you're paying for in your own backyard.

[JCMach1]

39. One of my proudest moments as a HS Government Teacher was when my Muslim Val. at Graduation

In her speech gave a short prayer to Allah. Note, this was in a small backwoods town in North Florida. For years, RWers in the community had pushed all boundaries of religion. She showed them what the right really meant. And, in a way, demonstrated why separation is so important.

[blue sky at night]

43. its sad but often true....

that the student is so much brighter than the Teacher, and all he had to do was pay attention. Just imagine all of the students out there that never dare question authority EVER. If there is one thing I instilled in all three of my children was to always question, they may not be the most popular, but they are not gotten over on by teachers and other kids. This kid would make a great politician if we could somehow get him to slime himself and get down on that level. As for his teacher, hope he can get a job somewhere; maybe a convenience store is in need of a clerk somewhere?

[Quantess]

45. I see your point, but,

teachers of all ideologies have some students who agree and some who disagree.
Critical thinking skills help separate the truth from the propaganda.

[kenny blankenship]

48. I must applaud his courage

but part of me thinks this country is so full of fucked in the head religious rightwing fascists that no amount of sunlight and courage can redeem it.

[Jim__]

52. There's an example of a public school student that is learning.

It may not be the school teaching him, but that letter is very well-written. And the arguments are presented logically and forcefully. He's also showing civic responsibility by the actions that the letter describes.

Great letter. And, he sounds like a great studnet.

[kestrel91316]

55. I get the feeling he's gonna wind up in law school. lol.

[Snarkturian Clone]

57. No political leanings should be taught in history, right OR left.

There's a little video by the Pennsylvania Historical Society that plays on PA's cable access channel that shows the history of Philadelphia... it has lots of interesting facts and pictures (including a picture of my street when it was a dirty slum), but at the end it talks about philadelphia political history and how the evil republican machine ran the city into the ground, then does this happy music when the democratic machine moves in. The part they fail to mention is that the democratic machine in Philadelphia government was equally corrupt as the repub machine. It always pisses me off because this is supposed to be an educational video and it ends up turning into a political message. Whether right or left leaning, it is still wrong.