- Maple River Education Coalition (MREdCo)
- 1402 Concordia Avenue
- St. Paul, MN 55104
- http://www.EdWatch.org
- 651-646-0646
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- September 26, 2002
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- Assessed for Bias
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- On Monday, September 16, Mahtomedi, Minnesota High School
gave high school freshmen boys and girls an "assessment for bias."
Students were asked, are you biased toward straight people?
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- Tolerance and bias are the new core curriculum, not knowledge-
based academics. Academics is becoming incidental to education. The core
curriculum of the new education system is diversity, bias, environmentalism,
political activism, reconstructing history, promoting the United Nations,
group actions, anger management, sex education, working together, challenging
students' values, community service, and training for a job. Knowledge-based
education is at a functional literacy level, measured by the Basic Skills
Tests and the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs). The MCAs are
also the assessment system for the values and attitudes required by the
new federal curriculum.
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- Bias as core curriculum is so institutionalized that,
in the Mahtomedi Freshman Seminar, no parents were informed. No permission
was requested. No eyebrows were to be raised.
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- As one student reported that night, "Dad, you'll
never guess what I had to watch." She explained how she had been
subjected to two videos about homosexuality. Her description: "They
were gross! I don't want to have to see stuff like that again."
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- This young woman's response would undoubtedly be labelled
intolerant and biased.
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- The Mahtomedi High School freshmen assignment was to
watch these videos. They were then assigned to complete an assessment
to determine if they "harbored hidden biases toward straight people,
or against gay people." The assessment is posted at Tolerance.Org
web site, at http://tolerance.org/hidden_bias/02.html. Take a look through
that site, and consider what our 9th graders are being subjected to in
the name of "education."
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- The assessment does not accommodate a separation between
one's moral beliefs and how one might treat ANY person. It makes no distinction
between "preference" and "bias," though the test claims
to measure bias.
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- Little explanation is given to the demographic (optional)
questions. "Do you have a PREFERENCE for gay people?" it opens.
What is the 14 year old to take from that question? Are we talking sexuality
or friendship? Who's to say? One parent took the test twice, giving the
same answers each time. Once he described himself as "straight, and
very conservative." His results were, "SHOW A STRONG AUTOMATIC
PREFERENCE FOR STRAIGHT PEOPLE." The next time, he skipped the demographic
questions but gave identical responses. This time, his results were: "LITTLE
OR NO AUTOMATIC PREFERENCE." Is a teen to interpret that to mean
that he or she is bisexual? Not biased? It doesn't say.
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- Foisting homosexual propaganda and personal sexual assessments
on unsuspecting 14 year-olds without the knowledge or consent of parents
is, unfortunately, what diversity and tolerance mean in the double-speak
of today's education.
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- Was the assignment a requirement? According to the teacher,
the assignment was for all in the class, and if any had a problem, they
were to come forward to her personally. Some students decided not to complete
a follow-up writing assignment. According to the students, extra credit
was given to those who would participate. In either case, the assignment
can't be described as voluntary.
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- Was the teacher ever informed that parental notification
might be necessary for such material? No, no one ever discussed the matter
of parental notification or permission with the teacher.
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- Nor were students allowed to express their disgust for
the assignment. A follow-up letter from the teacher to her class stated:
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- "Some of you expressed the feeling that this is
not an appropriate topic to study in school, and I feel the need to reiterate
the purpose of this unit.
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- "One of the goals for Freshman Seminar is to discuss
olerance. Gay and lesbian people are often the targets of ntolerant behavior...which
we witnessed in the Matthew heppard video."
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- "I am also aware that some of you may have chosen
to address your distaste simply because you did not want to write this
essay. I know who you are, and I want you to know that this will not be
accepted."
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- The letter went on to describe her disappointment in
them, describing them as "immature."
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- The distinctions between "hate" and "bias"
(a negative opinion) are entirely blurred on the "tolerance"
website. It's hard to imagine a young person being capable of distinguishing
the difference on the basis of their material. Yet the teacher stated in
her letter to students, "this unit is not designed to change your
opinion of what is right and wrong." In this entire assignment, "bias"
is deliberately and emotionally linked to the torture and murder of Matthew
Sheppard.
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- The teacher stated that she was simply "following
the school's curriculum." Curriculum? How much are we willing to
allow our children's innocence and values to be violated in the name of
"curriculum?"
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- U.S. Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) [General
Education Provisions, Part F, Section 1061] http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/pg122.html#sec1061
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- Federal law requires school districts that receive federal
funds to have policies allowing parents to inspect surveys created by a
third party before the surveys are administered to students.
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- Federal law requires school districts that receive federal
funds to have policies that allow parents to inspect instructional material
used as part of the students' educational curriculum.
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- Federal law requires school districts that receive federal
funds to provide notice to parents at least annually, at the beginning
of the school year, of their policies for parental inspection of surveys
and curriculum.
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- The school district must offer an opportunity for parents
to opt their child out of a survey containing items relating to sex behavior
or attitudes.
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- The school district must offer an opportunity for parents
to opt out of a survey containing items relating to religious beliefs of
a student.
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- The question is, do these federal requirements apply
to all surveys and curriculum of schools that accept federal money, or
do these requirements only apply to surveys and curriculum that are specifically
funded by federal money?
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- Minnesota's Profile of Learning, however, was implemented
with federal grant money to fulfill the federal requirements of Goals 2000.
Goal 3 of Goals 2000 states:
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- "all students will be knowledgeable about the diverse
cultural heritage of this Nation and about the world community."
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- Minnesota complies with Goal 3 by the Graduation Standard
called, "Diverse Perspectives." Parents in many states and school
districts have protested the diversity requirements as promoting homosexuality.
(See "Forcing Diversity in the Classroom," http://mredcopac.org/upda0244.htm)
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- Isn't this a use of federal Goals 2000 money? To receive
any federal Title I money (for disadvantaged students) states had to comply
with Goals 2000 restructuring of 1994 (one mandate being diversity).
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- Isn't this a use of federal money?
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- Minnesota's "Content Framework for People and Cultures
Standards" begins with a quote from the Goals 2000 mandate. (p. 1-5
http://cfl.state.mn.us/ci/learning/social/chapter1.pdf)
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- It states: "By tracing the alignment of Minnesota's
content standards through the national standards for each area, educators
and curriculum specialists, parents and the general public will be able
to see how the content and process expectations of Minnesota's standards
reflect national expectations." (p. 22)
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- Every state's students are also assessed on these "national
standards" by the national test, the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) which "verifies" all state assessments.
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- [For a further discussion of the required federal curriculum,
see http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2002/mar02/focus.shtml]
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- Diversity is most definitely a federal mandate, and it
is required at the risk of losing federal money. Why wouldn't the Protection
of Pupil Rights apply to these invasive surveys and curriculum?
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- Some states have passed their own Protection of Pupil
Rights Act. New Jersey recently accomplished just that. http://www.mredcopac.org/upda0227.htm
http://mredcopac.org/upda0229.htm
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- In the meantime, file a parental consent form at your
child's school. A sample may be found at: http://www.beverlye.com/consent_20000920.html
Modify it as needed. HURRY! Things aren't getting much better!
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- _____
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- Michael J. Chapman Board of Directors Maple River Education
Coalition
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