Colorado Students Walk Out To Protest Conservative ‘Censorship’ Of AP History - RawStory [View all]

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Colorado students walk out to protest conservative ‘censorship’ of AP history
David Ferguson - RawStory
23 Sep 2014

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On Tuesday, hundreds of high school students in Jefferson County, Colorado walked out of classes this week to protest conservative censorship of the national Advanced Placement U.S. history class curriculum. According to the Denver Post, students and teachers are protesting the removal of all mentions of civil disobedience from texts and classroom materials intended for the teaching of AP U.S. history.

Tuesday’s protests were an extension of a Monday walkout, in which 250 students at Evergreen High School in Golden walked out of morning classes to protest at Jefferson County School District headquarters. “I want honesty in my classroom. Teachers want honesty in the classroom,” said a letter that students presented to school Superintendent Dan McMinimee on Monday.

On Tuesday, CBS Denver said, “Approximately 500 students walked out at Arvada West High School and 400 at Arvada High School. Approximately 300 students walked out at Golden High School and about 200 students went to the school offices in connection with the protest.”

Teachers staged their own protest last week, calling in sick and thereby shutting down two area high schools in protest of changes proposed for the history curriculum.

Tensions have run high in Jefferson County schools since three conservative candidates were elected to the school board. These new board members have suggested an extensive rewrite of the way history is taught to the area’s students to a model they believe is more patriotic. The right-leaning board-members said they believe history teachers should teach nationalism, respect for authority and reverence for free markets. They should avoid teaching any historical events or acts that promote “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”

Teachers objected to the proposed politicization of history in the classroom and staged a system-side sick-out last week. Now, students are following their instructors’ lead.

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More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/colorado-students-walk-out-to-protest-conservative-censorship-of-ap-history/