Article on New Policy
This article is about the new law that has been recently passed in the New Hampshire state senate. The law allows for the parents of children in public schools to seek an alternative curriculum if the curriculum used in their son or daughter's school is disagreeable. The law is most likely to apply in course such as sex education and science classes.
The law has caused some unrest among state senate members. Probably most concerning of these complaints is the issue of striping down the curriculum to avoid any issues, which could cause students to miss out or could cause more classroom disruptions and issues.
There are some positives to this new law. First, it encourages the involvement of parent's in their child's education, which as we have discussed helps the child do better. Second, it protects families that do not have the money to send their children to private school. Instead parents can continue to send their child to public school while avoiding curriculum issues.
If used properly this law could potentially make education in New Hampshire better. It encourages parental involvement while respecting the boundaries families are comfortable with. Although it does have the potential to be miss used it does have the potential to enrich the education system in New Hampshire and can be used positively.
This bill is really interesting. I think it is important that parents do have a certain degree of control over the curriculum in their child's classrooms. That is, if people have the freedom to practice their own religion, then I believe it stands to reason that they should also have the freedom to fit their child’s education with that faith and beliefs system.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think that the bill can result in grave, undesirable consequences because it is written so broadly, as the article says. It would be an affront to the true nature of education for teachers to end up shying away from, “exposing students to ‘new ideas and critical thinking.’” To do this would rob the children of a quality education just because the parents are afraid they may learn something undesirable. Perhaps it is best for a child’s education to be totally unencumbered, in spite of the fear they may learn something “inappropriate” (like we discussed in class in regards to learning about Christopher Columbus). Would it really be so bad to teach them the real truth, from multiple viewpoints? That is to say, teaching them about both safe sex and chastity, and both creationism and evolution, etc.