So what do the following words or topics have in common?

Abuse

Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs

Birthdays

Bodily functions

Cancer (and other diseases)

Catastrophes/disasters

Children dealing with serious issues

Computers in the home

Creatures from outer space

Dancing

Death and disease

Dinosaurs and prehistoric times

Divorce

Geological history

Evolution

Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes

Gambling

Halloween

Holidays

Homes with swimming pools

In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge

Junk food

Loss of employment

Movies

Nuclear weapons

Parapsychology

Politics

Pornography

Poverty

Rap music

Religion

Religious holidays

Rock-and-Roll music

Running away

Sex

Slavery

Terrorism

Vermin (rats and roaches)

Violence

War and bloodshed

Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)

Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

Give up?

These are all terms or topics that teachers may not use on tests in New York City Public Schools.

This is presented as food for thought for those who hold that all power in public education should be reserved to the lowest possible level (i.e., the school boards).

Among other things, these rules would make it virtually impossible either to teach or test American History.

Which might be the point.

Comments

Dana Garrett said…

How can you ask relevant test questions about the Civil War era without mentioning the word "slavery?" I don't get it.

April 15, 2012 at 11:12 AM

Steven H. Newton said…

Precisely my point: how can you teach any American History at all without access to most of these verboten topics?

April 15, 2012 at 11:18 AM

A Libertarian Martin Luther King Jr. Day post

In which we travel into interesting waters . . . (for a fairly long trip, so be prepared) Dr. King's 1968 book, Where do we go from here: chaos or community? , is profound in that it criticizes anti-poverty programs for their piecemeal approach, as John Schlosberg of the Center for a Stateless Society [C4SS] observes: King noted that the antipoverty programs of the time “proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils,” with separate programs each dedicated to individual issues such as education and housing. Though in his view “none of these remedies in itself is unsound,” they “all have a fatal disadvantage” of being “piecemeal,” with their implementation having “fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies” or been “entangled in bureaucratic stalling.” The result is that “fragmentary and spasmodic reforms have failed to reach down to the profoundest needs of the poor.” Such single-issue approaches also have “another common failing — ...

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba...

A reply to Salon's R. J. Eskrow, and his 11 stupid questions about Libertarians

Posts here have been in short supply as I have been living life and trying to get a campaign off the ground. But "11 questions to see if Libertarians are hypocrites" by R. J. Eskrow, picked up at Salon , was just so freaking lame that I spent half an hour answering them. In the end (but I'll leave it to your judgment), it is not that Libertarians or Libertarian theory looks hypocritical, but that the best that can be said for Mr. Eskrow is that he doesn't have the faintest clue what he's talking about. That's ok, because even ill-informed attacks by people like this make an important point: Libertarian ideas (as opposed to Conservative ideas, which are completely different) are making a comeback as the dynamic counterpoint to "politics as usual," and so every hack you can imagine must be dragged out to refute them. Ergo: Mr. Eskrow's 11 questions, with answers: 1. Are unions, political parties, elections, and ...

Search This Blog