[quote=urbanrealtor][quote=flu][quote=UCGal]From the article:

But starting in the 2013-14 school year, it would prohibit districts and the California Board of Education from using textbooks or other instructional materials that reflect adversely on gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

[/quote]

And here we go again on the gray of what “offensive” would mean.[/quote]

Well I went to school in CA and I think that learning things like how the Chinese built the railroads and had to fight for the right to vote (like blacks and women and mexicans and native americans) were hours and tax dollars well spent.

Maybe social studies and recent history is not as important to you.

I am glad you are not teaching our kids.

I agree that gray concepts of offensiveness are stupid but in practice, concepts of appropriate vs inappropriate speech in schools has not really presented too much of a problem.
Nobody finds banning epithets in the classroom particularly controversial.[/quote]

And thank you for proving once again why our education system is at the bottom and why CA in general is close to the bottom.

I didn’t say anything about NOT banning epithets. But these are things that just need to be spelled out in school rules, with consequences…School systems have enough social studies, social dynamics, etc. School systems are lacking fundamentals..And unless folks are willing to pony up and pay more taxes or convince the politicians not to cut the education budget as the first sacrificed cow, then I don’t see how they extra initiatives are going to be beneficial to our kids when at the same time teachers of core skills are being let go left and right.

With all due respect UR, I turned out fine, and my kid turned out fine..And frankly, I’d probably do a much better job teaching kids than a lot of pubic educators these days….And we didn’t need an extra ultra sensitivity training and worry about offending every possible person on the face of the earth. A lot of it is common sense…

Perhaps that’s our problem. Not enough parents teaching their OWN kids about common sense…Or perhaps, most parents these days lack common sense….But hey, if you want your kids to be ultra-sensitive, ultra-fearful of offending everyone and anyone, taught by a public educator, and then see how they stack up versus kids from they rest of the world who don’t have this ultra-sensitivity “training” by all means..your choice…

And frankly, what people don’t like to hear is unlike ethnicities…Sexual-orientation does bring up the top of,well, duh, sex……I’d like to see how our public educators bring this topic into elementary school while dancing around the topic of sex…Sorry, UR, unlike you, I’m not as socially liberal…I wouldn’t like the idea of elementary schools discussing the topic of sex at this early age frankly. And yes, we did have social studies in elementary school….So it’s not like this material wouldn’t be introduced at this age group…At this age group, I’ll take the reading ,writing, and math for the win please…