A basic review of the syllabi Woodland Park submitted for world history and world geography raised numerous red flags for Christopher Martel, a professor of social studies education at the University of Massachusettes. Martel helped develop the state’s history framework and is currently part of a research study on the role of politics in state standards development.
— Read on coloradotimesrecorder.com/2024/02/woodland-parks-white-supremacist-tainted-history-courses-disappear-from-ncaas-approved-list-after-ctr-inquiry/59499/
Tag Archives: American Birthright
WPSD social studies curriculum in First Grade
What does Woodland Park school district, the only district in the nation to have adopted the American Birthright standards for social studies, teach first graders about national holidays? Linked below are images of the handout talking about “National Patriotic Holidays”. Let’s talk about what students are being taught about these holidays…the WPSD definition, and the one from Wikipedia:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
WPSD: “Martin Luther King Jr. believed all people should have the same rights. He worked hard to make this happen. He taught us to show respect for all people.”
Wikipedia: “King was chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society. The movement lead to several groundbreaking legislative reforms in the United States.”
Juneteenth
WPSD: “Juneteenth is the country’s newest holiday. It is known as Freedom Day. We celebrate freedom on Juneteenth.”
Wikipedia: “Juneteenth…is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the end of slavery.”
What I believe is noteworthy here is how slavery and civil rights, the core tenets of those holidays, are being portrayed by our district. These are not difficult concepts to teach to a first grader…but our school district chooses a whitewashed version of history instead.
There’s also then the issue of Labor Day, omitting the significant impact unions had on labor in this country and that this holiday was proposed by them.
WPSD: “Workers have made our country strong. We celebrate them on Labor Day.”
Wikipedia: “Labor Day is…to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.”
As for Thanksgiving, first graders are not being taught how some of those first Thanksgiving celebrations were in thanks for the assistance Native Americans provided to those early settlers.
Studies Weekly, the company that published this teaching material, has come under fire in the past for racial or ethnic bias. As this article in Discourse Blog put it, “Whitewashed history is just what conservative parents and right-wing activists want.”
Here is the teaching material given to first grade students recently:
Garfield Re-2 Board President steps down over ‘political climate’ | PostIndependent.com
There has been a whirlwind of responses after ABS was proposed for Garfield Re-2, including a local effort to recall May from the board. The recall effort comes amid emails obtained through open records requests revealing Fletchall and May requested ABS guidance from the Woodland Park District. Woodland Park, northwest of Colorado Springs, voted to incorporate ABS and has since then seen 40% of its teachers resign in protest.
New Castle resident Steve Beaulieu said during public comment that Woodland Park’s ABS incorporation has turned into a “dumpster fire” that has become a “flaming disaster.”
— Read on www.postindependent.com/news/re-2-board-president-steps-down-over-political-climate/
Garfield Re-2 community pushes back in denying American Birthright Standards curriculum | PostIndependent.com
A community social studies committee made up of teachers, parents and community members was established to review the social studies curriculum, study alternatives, survey the community on their preferences and make recommendations.
“We don’t want our community to be torn apart like Woodland Park, where vocal ideologues took over the school board, causing chaos where there used to be peace,” Willow Brotzman, a parent with two students in the Re-2 District, said in the release. “They’ve bulldozed their community to institute American Birthright despite community opposition, opposed school mental health programs and bullied educators by barring them from speaking publicly on school matters and firing those that did.”
— Read on www.postindependent.com/news/garfield-re-2-community-pushes-back-in-denying-american-birthright-standards-curriculum/
Status of WPHS NCAA course eligibility
For students planning on playing college sports, taking classes that meet NCAA requirements is super important. A lot of parents have been wondering whether the American Birthright Social Studies standards would impact NCAA eligibility? It’s understood that any course curriculum change requires that class to be re-submitted for review. So where do we stand? The NCAA has a helpful website where you can look up each school and see the status of all classes, and it turns out we have a LOT of classes where the NCAA is holding off approval while they await information from the district. Here’s the list:
I suspect – but really don’t know – that the American Birthright Standard is only responsible for the seven classes in the ‘social science’ section. I also believe that the district might never seek NCAA approval for many classes on this list, so keep in mind the situation probably isn’t as bad as this list makes it seem. Just be sure your kids are choosing classes that meet their needs and paying attention to the NCAA status of each.
In February, the district attempted to reassure parents by saying their goal was to finish this work by registration time in August:
What do we know about the district’s work done so far on this? Unfortunately, not much, apart from the large list of classes pending approval. However, the people at the NCAA are very helpful and told a caller today that district executive assistant Kelley Havin called today to reset their admin password – it seems they couldn’t even access the school information. Which really suggests that they haven’t been working on this! Keeping all this in mind, here’s the email the district sent to parents yesterday about this topic:
That email does little to address the concerns about pending status of classes, and what timeline we’re looking at to resolve all this.
The NCAA has a comment line that they listen to on a daily basis. The number is 317-917-6762.
Woodland Park teachers speak out against controversial curriculum | 9news.com
Hand and 80 of her colleagues with the Woodland Park School District have signed a letter addressed to their community in Teller County that calls for the board to “prioritize our children’s futures over politics.”
The letter specifically criticizes the “American Birthright” social studies model. Woodland Park’s school board was the first in the country this year to adopt the conservative civics education program, which promotes American patriotism and deems social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion topics to “inhibit student learning.”
The Colorado State Board of Education has rejected this syllabus.
— Read on www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/teachers-southern-colorado-jobs-at-risk-speaking-publicly-curriculum-american-birthright-woodland-park/73-01dca652-5c24-4839-8543-cb2337d40173
School board election in Woodland Park gets attention after American Birthright curriculum used – CBS Colorado
The school board election in Woodland Park is getting a lot of attention after the American Birthright curriculum used in classrooms.
— Read on www.cbsnews.com/colorado/video/school-board-election-in-woodland-park-gets-attention-after-american-birthright-curriculum-used/
DAVIS: This November’s School Board Elections Are More Important Than You Think
The most important school board races in Colorado this year are not on the Front Range, and are rarely in the press. They are tucked into high valleys
— Read on coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/10/davis-this-novembers-school-board-elections-are-more-important-than-you-think/56745/
More on the American Birthright standards for social studies
Check out this TikTok video providing more information about the American Birthright standards that our district adopted in January without public discussion:
Freedom From Religion Foundation weighs in on the American Birthright Standard
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) published this letter, offering its interpretation of the American Birthright Standard. Here’s a quote from that:
FFRF is strongly urging the board to reject the adoption of American Birthright standards and uphold its duty to provide standards grounded in current scholarship, reflect best practices in social studies education and be inclusive for all student backgrounds and ability levels, as recommended by experts such as the National Council for the Social Studies.
“Public schools have a duty to ensure that instructional materials do not promote a particular religious viewpoint,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes.
Social studies standards that falsely teach that Christian history and Christian traditions are inherently American and/or that religion makes up the fabric of ethics and morality (under the guise of secular history and moral philosophy) blatantly promote Christianity and violate the rights of district students and parents.