What do you think should be a central question in a textbook unit entitled “Rights and Responsibilities”? Perhaps, questions about the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and checks and balances?
Not so much.
For all the chatter about public school districts designing their own unique curricula under national Common Core standards, in reality most of them will likely purchase pre-fab lesson materials from big textbook companies, like Zaner-Bloser.
As EAGnews reports, that company recommends a book in the third-grade teaching guide called “Si Se Puede/Yes We Can!”
EAGnews recently purchased a stack of Common Core-aligned teacher guides produced by Zaner-Bloser because we wanted to know what students are being taught about America’s history, economic system and predominant culture.
The guides we purchased are for grades 1-6 and feature different texts promoted by the Common Core learning standards. Each text comes with a week’s worth of related lessons.
…“Si Se Puede” tells the story of a 1985 SEIU-led janitors strike in Los Angeles.
…In the teachers’ guide, the authors say the janitors went on strike “for more money because their wages [were] too low to be fair.”
Keep in mind, this unit is geared for 8- and 9-year-olds who have no understanding of how the labor market works, let alone any knowledge of the economic principle of supply and demand.
And yet they’re being told that the janitors weren’t making a “fair” wage.
That’s not all they’re being taught. In the guide, teachers are told to introduce students to the vocabulary word of the week – “protest.”
…In case the kids can’t identify any problems worth protesting, the Zaner-Bloser authors helpfully offer an example: “No talking allowed in the lunchroom.”
The authors even suggest a solution: “Protest by making signs and marching.”
It is ludicrous that a labor union agenda is being pushed on children long before they’re old enough to have a part-time job—and calculate just how much big government is deducting from their paychecks.