Date: July 30, 2003
Subject: Bingo

The Arizona standards for civics and government contain some promising nuggets. I had to go to the department web site to find them, since my copy of the Arizona social studies standards was not collated correctly (pages were missing or out of order). There is also an updated history standard as of 6/30/03.

STANDARD 2: CIVICS/GOVERNMENT

Students understand the ideals, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, and the content, sources, and history of the founding documents of the United States, with particular emphasis on the Constitution and how the government functions at the local, state, national, and international levels.

PROFICIENCY (Grades 9-12)
Students know and are able to do all of the above [earlier grade levels] and the following:

2SS-P1. Explain the philosophical foundations of the American political system in terms of the inalienable rights of man and the purpose of government, with emphasis on:

PO 1. the basic principles of natural rights expressed by John Locke, including the state of nature, property, equality, and dissolution of government (Second Treatise of Government)

PO 2. the foundational principles of laws by William Blackstone including the nature of laws in general and the absolute rights of individuals (Commentaries on the Laws of England)

PO 3. the importance to the Founders of the rights of Englishmen, the Magna Carta, the representative government in England, and the English Bill of Rights

PO 4. the fundamental principles in the Declaration of Independence

PO 5. the moral and ethical ideals which have their antecedent in the Judeo-Christian tradition

2SS-P2. Analyze the historical sources and ideals of the structure of the United States government, with emphasis on:

PO 1. the principles of democracy and republican form of government developed by the Greeks and Romans, respectively

PO 2. separation of powers (Charles de Montesquieu)

2SS-P8. Analyze the rights, protections, limits, and freedoms included in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, with emphasis on:

PO 1. Constitutional mandates such as the right of habeas corpus, no bill of attainder, and the prohibition of ex post facto laws

PO 2. the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

PO 3. the Second Amendment right to bear arms

PO 4. the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments of search and seizure, rights of the accused, right to a fair and speedy trial, and other legal protections

PO 5. the Fourteenth Amendment protection of due process and equal protection under the law

PO 6. conflicts which occur between rights, including the tensions between the right to a fair trial and freedom of the press, and between majority rule and individual rights

[Missing in action: the Tenth Amendment.]

There is also a "distinction" or honors level of the standards, elements of which I recognize from studying the Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics curriculum.

Date: July 29, 2003
Subject: Missing from the Virginia standards

When held up to the standard of founding principles, even the celebrated Virginia standards for civics falls short, according to an analysis by the Maple River Education Coalition. This shows that even content-based, measurable standards can be based on incomplete content. Standards from Virginia, Kansas, Alabama, California, and Arizona were provided to each of the social studies committee members by the MDE. I will be looking at the other standards in this sample to see how they stack up.

Two more days until our first July 31 meeting. The meeting is scheduled to run from 8 am to 5 pm, with a gathering time over coffee to begin at 7:30 am, and a working lunch from 11:15 am - 12:30 pm that includes an invitation to Governor Pawlenty to address the committees. We will start with a large group assembly, and spend from 9:30 am working in subcommittees. The subcommittees are arranged by subject matter (science and social studies) and grade level: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.

The "framework" or outline we received for building the standards lists History, which is divided into American History and World History; and Social Studies, which is split into Government and Citizenship (civics), Geography, and Economics. Minnesota History is covered in the grade 6-8 framework.

Click here for the MDE web page of official documents (schedule, member roster, etc.) related to the Academic Standards Committee.

Date: July 28, 2003
Subject: Who controls the past controls the future

Why does history matter? Why should the history standards matter to you as a parent, taxpayer, or citizen? For the answer, dust off your copy of George Orwell's book 1984 from your high school or college days, and re-read a few paragraphs:

"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed--if all records told the same tale--then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness."

If dusty fiction isn't your cup of tea, how about some dusty non-fiction:

"Among the elementary measures the American Soviet government will adopt to further the cultural revolution are...[a] National Department of Education...the studies will be revolutionized, being cleansed of religious, patriotic, and other features of the bourgeois ideology. The students will be taught the basis of Marxian dialectical materialism, internationalism and the general ethics of the new Socialist society." --William Z. Foster, Toward Soviet America (1932), National Chairman of the American Communist Party (1933-44, 1945-57)

Or as commentator Sterling Rome said:

"Many conservatives have great regard for history as a guide and as an indication of what to expect from the future, while many liberals have a utopian view of society that requires a suspension of disbelief in order to be seen as practical. Because much of current liberal politics is built on theory rather than practice, history can be an awful inconvenience.

"So-called 'Progressives' can ill afford an electorate versed in political and cultural history, so their only option is to debunk historical truths that contradict them, or to argue that history is always relative to interpretation.

"Herein lies the real danger to society as a whole. Questioning history in an effort to uncover the truth is healthy. Refuting a truth (regardless of its validity) because it doesn't support a political theory is the death-knell of liberty."

Date: July 28, 2003
Subject: The American's Creed

Incredibly, The American's Creed, which follows, opens the current state civics and government standards for the state of Kansas, a copy of which is included in our packets from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). You didn't know there was such a creed, or that it was adopted by Congress in 1918? Me neither! Click here for further background.

I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

This creed is missing natural law and self-evident truths; and the "principles" of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity are somewhat ambiguous, but it's a good start! Can you imagine incorporating this creed into the Minnesota standards for civics? Me neither!

There are just a few more days until our first meeting, Thursday, July 31.

Date: Friday, July 25, 2003
Subject: The purpose of social studies III

What do we as a nation hold dear?

For starters, let's start at the beginning. Quick, which document is so fundamental to our country that its signing is a national holiday? Ten foundational principles of our country are contained in the first paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence:

1. National Sovereignty

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station...

2. Natural Law

...to which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them...

3. Self-Evident Truths

We hold these truths to be self-evident,

4. Equality Before God

...that all men are created equal

5. God-Given (inherent) Rights

...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,

6. The Right to Life

...that among these are Life,

7. The Right to Liberty

...Liberty,

8. The Right to Private Property

...and the pursuit of Happiness.

9. Government's Purpose: To Protect God-Given Rights

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men...

10. Popular Sovereignty

...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Date: July 25, 2003
Subject: The purpose of social studies II

As I ponder the purpose of social studies education, which according to Minnesota Statue comprises U.S. history, geography, economics, and government and citizenship (i.e., "civics"), I find that Diane Ravitch said it well:

"Our ability to defend -- intelligently and thoughtfully -- what we as a nation hold dear depends on our knowledge and understanding of what we hold dear." --Diane Ravitch

Along the same lines:

"...[W]ithout the knowledge of who we are as a people and what we stand for, we are creating a situation where our liberty could be in jeopardy. Our freedom, our strength as a country is threatened by this lack of knowledge." --Victoria Hughes

"If a nation expects to be ignorant -- and free -- in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

"To honor every president is to honor no president. Which is what Presidents' Day does. ...Slowly but without question -- and Presidents' Day is only one example -- Americans are forgetting and ignoring the men and events that have made this nation great." --Lyn Nofziger

Others have also provided us with food for thought:

"The philosophy of the schoolhouse one generation will be the philosophy of the Government in the next." --Abraham Lincoln

"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." --John Philpot Curran: Speech upon the Right of Election, 1790.

"Our country was not predestined to prosper; it did so through choices made at its Founding and renewed every generation since: the choices of freedom over rule, property over collectivization, the liberty of the individual human spirit over the dictates of the enlightened few." --James S. Robbins

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

From the Founders:

"If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great secruity." --Samuel Adams

"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." -- Benjamin Franklin

Date: July 25, 2003
Subject: The purpose of social studies

One week before our first meeting, it appears that the "discussion" in the social studies committee will involve many complex issues, but it all really just boils down to what is the purpose of a social studies curriculum. Is it to preserve and promote the principles that made this country great? Or is it to facilitate the "evolution" of our society, toward something else?

There is a greater percentage of teachers on the committees this time, compared to the math and langauge arts committees. Commissioner Yecke wanted to put the "public" back into "public education." For this she was roundly criticized by the education establishment, which also called the validity of the committee's work into question.

The committees also include several high-powered individuals with experience in national standards groups.

We will see who is advocating for what content. Some believe that it will be a battle royale of two worldviews.

Click here for a copy of the actual changes to Minnesota statute that repealed the Profile of Learning, and establishes the new law under which the academic standards committees will operate.

Date: July 23, 2003
Subject: Be careful what you wish for

I was one of the 85 citizens selected to serve on the new Academic Standards Committee for social studies and science. I asked for and received an appointment to the grade 9-12 social studies subcommittee. I have posted lists of the committee members on my web site. The committees are directed by law to compose statewide academic standards for these two subject areas, for presentation to the legislature in February 2004.

I applied to be on the committee because I believe that the primary purpose of a social studies curriculum should be to preserve liberty, consistent with the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and founding documents. I hope to bring a parent's perspective to the committee, and to advocate for academic excellence on behalf of public school students and parents.

Today I received a large packet of information from the Minnesota Department of Education. It includes state standards in social studies that have been highly rated by the Fordham Foundation, American Federation of Teachers, and Education Week, which all publish highly-regarded reviews of state academic standards.

Over the next seven months or more, I hope to provide you with an insider's perspective on the standards development process in Minnesota.