American students are alarmingly
ignorant about U.S. history and world events.
---
according to jewish history revisionists
On Aug 7, 9:16 am, Bear Bear <thatbear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Watch Low Band Watch High Band
>
> Several recent studies have shown that American students are alarmingly
> ignorant about U.S. history and world events.
>
> Experts have attributed the problem to everything from failing schools to
> substandard teachers.
>
> But what about content?
>
> *Who Discovered America?*
>
> For instance, did you know that Muslims discovered America? Or that
> Jerusalem is an Arab city? That's just some of the "history" that students
> in America's K-12 classrooms have been taught in recent years--with the
> help of taxpayer money.
>
> A new report by the non-profit Institute for Jewish and Community Research
> finds that American high school and elementary textbooks contain countless
> inaccuracies about Christianity, Judaism, Israel and the Middle East.
>
> The Institute examined 28 of the most widely-used history, geography and
> social studies textbooks in America. It found at least 500 errors.
>
> One book ignored the Jewish roots of Christianity, saying the faith was
> founded by a "young Palestinian" named Jesus.
>
> Another stated as fact that the Koran was revealed to Mohammed from God.
>
> Yet another said ancient Jewish civilization contributed "very little" to
> to the arts and sciences.
>
> *The Stealth Curriculum*
>
> Textbooks like these are used by millions of schoolchildren in all 50
> states. Sandra Stotsky--now an endowed chair at the University of
> Arkansas--has seen some of them firsthand.
>
> Stotsky was a commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Education
> from 1999 until 2003. In that role, she helped set standards for students
> and teachers on the K thru 12 level. Stotsky wrote a book about her
> experience developing standards and professional development for history
> teachers called *The Stealth Curriculum*.
>
> "We heard from a number of groups who were outraged because they didn't
> want what they called a 'Euro-centric' version of history," said Stotsky.
> "They literally wanted an Islamo-centric version of history. Which means
> you look at the world from the perspective of Islam and you don't talk
> about any negative aspects of Islam."
>
> *Islamic Seminar*
>
> After the 9/11 attacks, the Massachusetts Board of Education funded a
> special seminar for K-12 teachers to learn about Islamic history and the
> Middle East.
>
> The outreach coordinator at Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern
> Studies helped organize the seminar. Stotsky said she was shocked by the
> teachers' lesson plans that came out of the week-long seminar.
>
> "They ranged from having students make prayer rugs; describe what it would
> be like to go on a hajj--a pilgrimage; learn and memorize the five pillars
> of Islam; listen to and learn how to recite passages from the Koran; dress
> like a Muslim from a particular country.it was, to me, a clear violation of
> ethics involved in how one would expect children to learn about another
> culture. That they would literally go through the memorization and the
> learning of religious beliefs."
>
> "These are unacceptable practices in a public school," she added. "In fact,
> they would be unacceptable academic practices in any school."
>
> *Title VI*
>
> Harvard is one of 18 universities that receives government funding under
> Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965. To qualify for that funding,
> the universities are required to conduct outreach to K-12 teachers, helping
> them to shape lessons for schoolchildren. Elementary and secondary teachers
> have taken full advantage of the arrangement: after all, they believe
> they're getting expert insight on Islam and the Middle East from
> distinguished university scholars.
>
> "You have a lot of politically naive teachers--well intentioned teachers
> who do want their students to learn more about Islamic history," says
> Stotsky. "It has not been well covered in most history courses they've ever
> taken, so they do genuinely want to learn more for themselves and teach
> their students more."
>
> In some cases they may be getting more than they bargained for: the Saudi
> government has donated millions of dollars to Middle East Centers at
> universities that receive Title VI funding.
>
> The Harvard Middle Eastern Studies Center--whose proposed lesson plans for
> K-12 history teachers originally drew Stosky's concern--is one of them. As
> CBN News reported earlier this year, the Harvard Center received a $20
> million donation from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in 2005. Georgetown
> University--another title VI recipient--also received $ 20 million from the
> Prince that same year.
>
> It's through these Title VI university centers--all of them
> government-sanctioned and taxpayer supported--that Saudi-funded materials
> find their way into K-12 classrooms.
>
> *Education or Islamic Propoganda?*
>
> "Saudi donations to American universities should be seen in a much larger
> picture of Saudi promotion of a Saudi point of view," said Daniel Pipes,
> Director of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia. "Whether it be Islamic
> or political, the Saudis have a point of view. And they have been very
> clever and very generous over the decades to promote that point of view."
>
> Among the textbooks the Saudi-funded Harvard Center recommends for
> schoolchildren is the Arab World Studies Notebook. The book is published by
> a New Mexico-based group called Arab World and Islamic Resources , which
> was founded in 1990 with funding from organizations that include Saudi
> Aramco, a Saudi government-owned oil company.
>
> *'The Notebook'*
>
> *The Notebook* has come under fire for negatively portraying America and
> Israel while whitewashing Islam. It's been banned by some school districts.
>
> "It's very difficult to find any discussion of ancient Israel--that it
> actually existed in time as a country,' Stotsky said of the *Notebook*.
> "That it had a king, that it had kings. That King Solomon existed, that
> Jerusalem was established as their capital city. It would discredit even
> the founding of the state of Israel by claiming that it was imposed by
> European or Western powers."
>
> One of the *Notebook's* most controversial claims was that Muslim explorers
> beat Columbus to the New World. Older versions state that some Native
> American chiefs even had Muslim names, like Abdul-Rahim. These passages
> were eventually removed after widespread criticism from scholars and Native
> American groups. *The Notebook's* editor, Audrey Shabbas, did not respond
> to our requests for an interview.
>
> The Middle East Policy Council--a pro-Arab advocacy group in Washington,
> D.C.--also conducts teacher training programs for K-12 teachers and has
> promoted the Arab World Studies Notebook as an ideal educational tool.
>
> Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $1 million towards the Council's
> teacher training programs last year. The group did not respond to repeated
> requests for an interview.
>
> *Stronger Curriculum Standards Needed*
>
> Stosky says there needs to be stronger standards for K-12 curriculums to
> help offset the influence of outside pressure groups. That's traditionally
> been a job for local governments.
>
> "State governments have not been given the power to set curriculum," she
> said. "No, this is a local responsibility. It was devised this way by our
> framers. You know, the local governments, local communities, would develop
> their own curricula, decide what they would want to teach their children.
> State governments could assess, as they now do, but they can't prescribe
> curriculum for local communities. And the federal government certainly
> can't prescribe a curriculum. That's why we're having a battle over where
> national standards are going to come from."
>
> The standards Stotsky helped craft for Massachusetts schools include what
> she calls "politically incorrect but historically accurate" objectives
> about the Islamic slave trade, Islamic expansionism and treatment of women
> in Islam.
>
> "What state governments can do--which to me, is the path we were taking in
> Massachusetts--is to make sure that the standards you create for a subject
> have been thoroughly vetted by first rate scholars--and a range of first
> rate scholars," said Stotsky.
>
> *Title VI Battle Hits Capitol Hill*
> The battle over Title VI has also reached Capitol Hill. In August, Congress
> approved revisions to the Higher Education Act of 1965--which includes
> Title VI. Universities must now explain how their Title VI funds will be
> used--and K-12 schools are now required to reflect a wide range of views on
> global issues in their lesson plans. Whether the Saudi point
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment