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U-46 adopts new social studies textbooks amid dissent

The adoption of new high school social studies textbooks has one Elgin school board member concerned.

The Elgin Area School District U-46 school board voted 5-2 Monday night to approve resources and curriculum for six social studies elective courses. School board members Jeanette Ward and Cody Holt were opposed to the purchase.

In a recent blog post, Ward detailed her objections to the recommended social studies textbooks. She cited "an overarching and pervasive politically left bias, a love affair with Karl Marx, factual inaccuracies about the history of Islam and Israel, global warming pseudoscience without opposing viewpoint, anti-American bias, anti-traditional family bias, anti-war dogma with no opposing viewpoint, and profound moral relativism."

Larry Pahl, a social studies teacher at Bartlett High School, said many of the concerns raised by Ward also were raised by a Texas Christian conservative group and addressed by Pearson, the educational company that provides textbook resources to schools.

Suzanne Johnson, U-46 assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the district undergoes a strenuous vetting process before adopting any curriculum changes.

A curriculum writing committee and a council of teachers, administrators and community members reviewed the new social studies electives curriculum and resources before it came before the school board for adoption, she added.

"It's not the entire curriculum. That textbook is just a piece," Johnson said. "Our teachers are empowered and supported to make those instructional decisions as to how to best utilize that primary resource, as well as when to introduce other secondary resources into the classroom," including articles, videos, and weblinks to support the curriculum.

"If students or parents identify a concern with a material or a resource, we've always provided the opportunity for an alternative supplemental resource for that student as well to address those concerns," she added.

School board member Susan Kerr said teachers have the freedom to include any number of resources that do not require school board approval.

Several board members agreed that teachers should have final say as to what resources they use in the classroom, even if some parents don't agree with the content.

"I think that the teachers have to be given wide latitude and a level of academic freedom," board member Traci O'Neal Ellis said. "I don't think the parent's role is to censor what is being taught."

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