Watch Out Chicago! Rahm's got a 'curriculum' just for you

[Hannah Bell]

From the New York Times: "Rahm Emanuel made a campaign promise last week that if elected mayor, he would install a new math and English language curriculum in Chicago’s public schools by the end of his first term.

Watch out, Chicago! The curriculum Rahm Emanuel is talking about exists. It has been produced by the Common Core Standards Mapping Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Hey, they brought us the Common Core, so it makes sense that they provide the maps, too. Leave nothing to chance. Assume teachers are stupid. Take charge. This is the mantra of the neo-liberals who are now in charge of education in this country.

The curriculum mandates for 8th graders ranges from the outdated to the bizarre. For a complete list, go here:

http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=830

The curriculum mappers want regular 8th graders to read Little Women.

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1803§ion=Article

[midnight]

1. I didn't know that the philanthropist gets a tax deduction that

the tax payer subsidises.... The Gates foundation is being susidised by the tax payer. But what I want to know is why is this college drop out interested in suscribing a reading curiculim to teachers when teachers should be doing this...

[MineralMan]

2. Well, I looked over the curriculum, and I don't see anything

awful in there. I believe the "Little Women" reference is for two film versions, not the book, but I read "Little Women" in 7th grade, voluntarily, and learned from it and enjoyed it. I didn't read any Joyce, though, until 9th grade, also voluntarily. I would definitely have been in the "advanced readers" group, and read a very wide range of material.

I'm not sure exactly what the objection to the inclusion of these items might be.