Who is accusing whom of having an agenda?

By Nancy Salvato
web posted December 12, 2005

Education in the United States has gotten off track. Evidence of
this unfortunate twist in the road abounds in news reports about
inappropriate sex surveys being given to students, education
curriculum for middle school which eliminates great works of
literature for magazines with articles about how to flirt and
French kiss, and math curriculums that don't challenge kids to
use pencil and paper to perform basic operations or test
mathematical formulas.

Without a doubt, there are many areas of education that need a
second look because a failure to do so is to look the other way
as generations of kids pass through school not learning about the
basics and instead getting indoctrinated in the agenda of a
minority in this country who believe that gender neutral
washrooms are of greater concern than the founding documents
of our country.

But there is a program helping students to learn about, "Where
the ideas about liberty, equality, and justice come from and what
they meant to the nation's Founders and to the Framers of its
Constitution." (vii, WTP) The Center for Civic Education's "We
The People: The Citizen And The Constitution" series of
textbooks exist to help our students to learn about the basic
principles of government intended to protect our rights and what
it means to be a citizen. WTP is a comprehensive program which
goes into great detail about the historical and philosophical
foundations of our country's Constitutional government, the
creation of our constitution, the organization of our national
government, the development of the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, expansion of rights, and roles of citizens. The best thing
about it is that schools can implement it at no cost. Teachers are
provided free institutes to learn more about our system of
government and how to use the book. In each state a set number
of classroom textbooks are made available to schools free of
charge with only the expectation that the program will be
implemented with fidelity.

Then why is it that there is a select group of detractors who want
to destroy the reputation of this great program by propagating
lies about the curriculum? Recently I read an article called, "We
the Proletariat" written by Malcolm Kline in which he states that
the program is remiss in its goal to deepen adherents'
understanding of the American Constitutional system and its
development.

He claims that the text spreads misinformation. His argument that
the text misleads students to believe that all rights reside with the
federal government is outlandish. One of the first ideas discussed
in the text is how a Constitutional government establishes limits
on the power of government to prevent it from violating natural
rights and that the government is organized and power
distributed in such a way as to increase the possibility that those
limitations will be effective (p 9, WTP). The ideas of enumerated
and un-enumerated rights are discussed in detail as well. (p 210,
WTP)

His second argument about the second amendment doesn't hold
any weight either. According to his sources, the text defines this
as the right of a state to have a militia but not as a personal right
to bear arms. Yet on page 240, right there in black and white,
the second amendment is listed with a definition that includes
both of these ideas. Although the authors decided to focus more
in depth discussion questions on the 1st amendment, because the
rights protected under it are considered by many to be the most
important, and on the rights of those accused of crimes and the
procedures in the court system; this doesn't mean an instructor
can't discuss in more detail some of the second amendment
issues in the news.

Because the book doesn't reflect a special interest agenda, it
does not pass judgment on the United Nations even though this
critic would like it to include an anti UN agenda. He assumes
that because the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
discussed in the book that this means that CCE is endorsing
those rights over the natural rights protected in our own
Constitution. It is simply a point of discussion. (pp 206-208)

His criticism of the common knowledge that "Islamic countries
take their code of laws from the teaching of the Koran, the book
of sacred writings accepted by Muslims as revelations to the
prophet Mohammed by God" being acknowledged in the text
after 9/11 makes no sense. What is his beef? Should we ignore
that Islam is derived from the Koran? Is he saying its not?

He ends his malicious tirade accusing The Center for Civic
Education's WTP program as reflecting special interests which
are intensely ideological. It would seem that his accusation
implicates himself as a hypocrite because WTP doesn't follow
the extremely ideological agenda he espouses.

I am more than willing to send a copy of the text to Malcolm
Kline if he is willing to read it with fidelity. That means that he has
to open his mind and not be prejudiced against the material
before he opens the book. If he is willing, I'm sure he will find
that "We The People: The Citizen And The Constitution" is a
great teaching resource and that it would do our system of
education in this country good to implement it instead of
programs that teach kids how to place condoms on cucumbers.
After all, our freedom is the most valuable right protected under
the Constitution. And our Constitution is currently under attack
by special interest groups wanting special rights and privileges
which has the effect of taking away the freedom our Constitution
is meant to ensure.

Nancy Salvato is the President of The Basics Project,
(www.Basicsproject.org) a non-profit, non-partisan research
and educational project whose mission is to promote the
education of the American public on the basic elements of
relevant political, legal and social issues important to our country.
Copyright © Nancy Salvato 2005

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