Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:06 I thought the teachers were nothing short of negligent for not discussing current events when my kids were in FCPS. Huge shock.

I would not expect the topic to come up except in a current events class (I had one in HS), in a history / civics class when the class discusses the development of the constitution, Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, or possibly debate. Then they could compare and contrast events then and now. Otherwise, it is irrelevant at school. Not every pet topic rises to the need of classroom discussion.

Andrew Johnson

Um there was a Johnson and a Jackson and Jackson was the virulent racist responsible for the Indian Removal Act.

Sure, but Andrew Jackson was not impeached and Andrew Johnson was. On this list, Johnson is the one that makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:Things are so polarized right now, it would be very difficult to discuss this in class.

When I was in high school I had a teacher who did cover current events. One thing she did was to bring in newspapers and have us underline the adjectives that reporters used. Try it some time. It is enlightening. If you want to see a reporter's bias, it is loud and clear.

My high school students are doing this now. They got to select a print news source of their choice and are tracking articles related to 5 topics we picked. Each week they meet in groups to compare bias, rhetorical devices and logical fallacies, etc. used in the articles and how their different sources offer varying perspectives and presentations of the same issues.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:06 I thought the teachers were nothing short of negligent for not discussing current events when my kids were in FCPS. Huge shock.

I would not expect the topic to come up except in a current events class (I had one in HS), in a history / civics class when the class discusses the development of the constitution, Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, or possibly debate. Then they could compare and contrast events then and now. Otherwise, it is irrelevant at school. Not every pet topic rises to the need of classroom discussion.

Andrew Johnson

Um there was a Johnson and a Jackson and Jackson was the virulent racist responsible for the Indian Removal Act.

The is discussion in DC’s school? but this is in the government class

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:06 I thought the teachers were nothing short of negligent for not discussing current events when my kids were in FCPS. Huge shock.

I would not expect the topic to come up except in a current events class (I had one in HS), in a history / civics class when the class discusses the development of the constitution, Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, or possibly debate. Then they could compare and contrast events then and now. Otherwise, it is irrelevant at school. Not every pet topic rises to the need of classroom discussion.

Andrew Johnson

Anonymous wrote:I was surprised to learn from DD that not one teacher has discussed the impeachment in class, including her history/social studies teachers. I am also surprised that certain clubs haven't hosted any after school forums or meetings for students to come and discuss such a major even in American history. Has this been a topic for discussion at your child's school?

Nope.

A dozen more important topics this month.

My principal would NEVER back me up for a parent complaint about this, and, believe me, I would get them, ttypally feom right-wing parents who are paranoid that we are promoting a political agenda, no matter how neutral we are.

Sadly, current events are not on the pacing guide. Anywhere. And many, many (most? All?) principals in FCPS consider the pacing guides to be what everyone should be doing, in lockstep. If you do anything nit on the pacing guide, you aren’t going to be supported in Amy way when a parent raises the roof.

I remember teaching HS back when Columbine happened and spending an entire week with kids discussing, writing about it, writing advocacy letters, etc. it brought us close as a class community in each of my classes. It helped a lot to process it.

After Sandy Hook, NO ONE in my building acknowledged it. Literally. There was nothing. Like it didn’t happen. Parents around here are so insanely reactionary and administrators are cowards. And frankly, I’ve become a coward, too. I HATE IT, but there are only so many hours in the day and spending hours and hours after school dealing with the fallout from an insane parent (or series of them) is something I have learned to avoid if humanly possible. I already woke 60 hours a week. I already have enough stress. I have a family and this stress is literally taking years off my life.

My FCPS kids talks about current events in class - not just the impeachment hearings, but coronaviris, and other things.

Anonymous wrote:12:06 I thought the teachers were nothing short of negligent for not discussing current events when my kids were in FCPS. Huge shock.

I would not expect the topic to come up except in a current events class (I had one in HS), in a history / civics class when the class discusses the development of the constitution, Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, or possibly debate. Then they could compare and contrast events then and now. Otherwise, it is irrelevant at school. Not every pet topic rises to the need of classroom discussion.

I’ll be in the strong minority and say yes. BUT, my kid is a senior in AP gov/ AP Lit senior seminar in FCPS. It sounds like the kids and teacher do a good job with thoughtful, fact based discussion. They also have had to watch a Democratic debate and do a couple of other election related activities. IDK how you teach AP Gov Senior Seminar and ignore impeachment.

They are just starting to read the Handmaids Tale in the Lit portion. By the time your kid is a second semester senior, I would hope you aren’t challenging teachers over exposing your kids to alternative viewpoints and controversial or explicit material. Are you also going to move into their college dorm room with them?

Anonymous wrote:My kid was taking history in high school when Obama was elected and my daughter said it was not mentioned once in class. I was appalled. I am a teacher and I follow current events with the class and keep my opinion out of it. It’s really irritating to have people say every teacher sucks in the whole district. In my classroom you’d be told that was a generalization not supported by facts.

Which history course? It would only fit into the curriculum of certain courses.

Anonymous wrote:Considering how angry parents get when they feel teachers discuss politics in the classroom or show any predilection for a political party, even if they don’t explicitly state it, you can imagine why sometimes we just say “not touching that one.” SOME kid would run home and tell their mom we said Trump was bad and their mom would email the school. It has happened to me and I wasn’t even discussing Trump.

^ This
+1

My kid was taking history in high school when Obama was elected and my daughter said it was not mentioned once in class. I was appalled. I am a teacher and I follow current events with the class and keep my opinion out of it. It’s really irritating to have people say every teacher sucks in the whole district. In my classroom you’d be told that was a generalization not supported by facts.

I suspect if the teacher was Pro Trump and was discussing impeachment OP would not be so eager for her DC to be involved with the discussion. She would most likely start a campaign to get the teacher fired for being a Trumper and demand her DC be placed in another class.

Considering how angry parents get when they feel teachers discuss politics in the classroom or show any predilection for a political party, even if they don’t explicitly state it, you can imagine why sometimes we just say “not touching that one.” SOME kid would run home and tell their mom we said Trump was bad and their mom would email the school. It has happened to me and I wasn’t even discussing Trump.