From the October 25, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *2   POLITICIANS AND HISTORY:  MAKING CURRICULUM DECISIONS
->    The PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS reports on state lawmakers who
-> mandate that certain historical events be taught in the schools
-> (AP/10/18).  A N.Y. state law signed last week that requires all
-> public school students over 8 be taught about Ireland's Great
-> Hunger of the 1840s prompted the article.
->    N.Y. Assemblyman Joseph Crowley of New York City defends his
-> bill because the potato famine "had a tremendous effect on the
-> United States, but particularly in this state of New York."  He added
-> that "a great many of those people came here."
->    However, state Assemblyman John Faso, who opposed the law,
-> asked, "Where does it stop?"  He continued:  "Do we next year
-> consider special legislation dealing with the Armenian genocides or
-> the Cambodian atrocities.?"  Eric Foner, a history professor at
-> Columbia U, also cautions against mandating events to be
-> taught in public school history classes.  "This business of each
-> group getting its own victimization written into legislation is a
-> very bizarre way of studying history," he said.  "As a historian and
-> a teacher, I believe that people ought to know about the
-> Irish famine.  But I'm not thrilled about the state legislature
-> deciding what should be considered historically important."
->    According to the paper, a 1994 N.Y. law requires that
-> students learn about slavery, the Holocaust and genocide.  Fla.
-> legislation mandates the teaching of the Holocaust in school.
-> Mont.'s Constitution "recognizes the distinct nature of American
-> Indian culture and declares the state's commitment" in its
-> education goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity." The
-> paper also notes that the Irish famine and the Armenian
-> genocide were added to N.J.'s curriculum earlier  this year.
->    Christopher Cross, president of the Council for Basic
-> Education observed that some aspects of history are better taught by
-> families and communities as part of a child's heritage. "The Irish
-> famine might not be as relevant to French-Canadian
-> communities or to New York students up near the Canadian border," he
-> said.  "For them, it might be more relevant to learn about the French
-> Revolution."
--- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 10
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