Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Some parents in Farmington, Mich., are crying "anti-Americanism" over a high school international affairs class.
The course is offered to juniors and seniors in the Farmington School District and focuses on America's role in the Middle East (search).
But it's not the topic that's angered some students' parents. It's the class readings, many of which come from left-wing Web sites like Alternet.org, Indymedia.org, Progressive.org and War-times.org, that vigorously attack the Bush administration (search).
"This belief that we have to show that every concept out of that society can be understood and excused is really a problem across the country," said Farmington father Don Cohen. "We are bending over backwards and by doing so, we're misrepresenting and misinforming our children and our society."
Cohen and other parents banded together to press the school board to hold off on the new elective. But the school year has officially begun and the class is on the roster. The board approved it by a narrow four-to-three vote.
Farmington superintendent of schools, Robert Maxfield, defended the course, saying high school juniors and seniors should be critical thinkers and should be exposed to many points of view.
"You can never teach kids the facts about everything," Maxfield said. "What you can teach kids is how to recognize points of view, how to understand sources of conflict, how to understand that there are forces that have driven world affairs for hundreds of years."
And he believes kids should know about how some people feel about the U.S.
"They need to understand that people hate Americans," Maxfield said. "They need to understand that sometimes there are reasons for that."
Pro-Bush materials, such as government Web sites like WhiteHouse.gov, were added to the class' reading list ? only after parents complained that the course was an exercise in political correctness. The extra sources help balance the course's curriculum and offer support to President Bush's policies and America's role in the Middle East.
"That's on the media every day," said parent Susan Kahn, referring to the defense of Bush administration policies. "We hear that all the time and I think that's perfectly OK for them to hear as long as we balance it."
Still, the school board stopped short of removing author Noam Chomsky's controversial book "9-11" ? in which he writes about why he thinks the U.S. is a terrorist state ? from the list of course materials.
"That's the bias inbred into this curriculum," Cohen fumed.
Fox News' Steve Brown contributed to this report.
Some parents in Farmington, Mich., are crying "anti-Americanism" over a high school international affairs class.
The course is offered to juniors and seniors in the Farmington School District and focuses on America's role in the Middle East (search).
But it's not the topic that's angered some students' parents. It's the class readings, many of which come from left-wing Web sites like Alternet.org, Indymedia.org, Progressive.org and War-times.org, that vigorously attack the Bush administration (search).
"This belief that we have to show that every concept out of that society can be understood and excused is really a problem across the country," said Farmington father Don Cohen. "We are bending over backwards and by doing so, we're misrepresenting and misinforming our children and our society."
Cohen and other parents banded together to press the school board to hold off on the new elective. But the school year has officially begun and the class is on the roster. The board approved it by a narrow four-to-three vote.
Farmington superintendent of schools, Robert Maxfield, defended the course, saying high school juniors and seniors should be critical thinkers and should be exposed to many points of view.
"You can never teach kids the facts about everything," Maxfield said. "What you can teach kids is how to recognize points of view, how to understand sources of conflict, how to understand that there are forces that have driven world affairs for hundreds of years."
And he believes kids should know about how some people feel about the U.S.
"They need to understand that people hate Americans," Maxfield said. "They need to understand that sometimes there are reasons for that."
Pro-Bush materials, such as government Web sites like WhiteHouse.gov, were added to the class' reading list ? only after parents complained that the course was an exercise in political correctness. The extra sources help balance the course's curriculum and offer support to President Bush's policies and America's role in the Middle East.
"That's on the media every day," said parent Susan Kahn, referring to the defense of Bush administration policies. "We hear that all the time and I think that's perfectly OK for them to hear as long as we balance it."
Still, the school board stopped short of removing author Noam Chomsky's controversial book "9-11" ? in which he writes about why he thinks the U.S. is a terrorist state ? from the list of course materials.
"That's the bias inbred into this curriculum," Cohen fumed.
Fox News' Steve Brown contributed to this report.
