Oklahoma Thinks AP US History is Unpatriotic

In October 2012, College Board revised the curriculum of AP US History to implement Common Core ideas that utilize critical thinking that has been put into effect this fall. These changes asked teachers to go more in depth in fewer topics, and ask students to think more deeply about this topic. They want students to consider all sides to make an argument, rather than learning a specific pointing view. Before College Board had a list of recommended topics, but others not listed would be on the exam, so teachers would try to cover everything. Now, they introduce wider topics and teachers should focus on specifics in the topic. 

This a chart of Common Core skills that should be taught in APUSH as advised by the College Board.

This revision caused opposition from certain states such as Georgia and Oklahoma. 

Georgia 

Earlier this month, the Georgia Senate threatened that if College Board did not revise the material taught, then the state would cut funding for AP US History, for they claimed that the course wasn't teaching material that would promote patriotism like it should. 

Oklahoma

A more recent action involved 11 Republicans on an Oklahoma legislative committee approving a bill over four democrats to cut funding of teaching APUSH. Dan Fisher started the bill saying that APUSH focuses on “what is bad about America.” 

Above, you can see the breakdown of the amount of time College Board believes should be spent on each topic. When reading the new curriculum, Larry Krieger, a retired high school teacher, said he “saw a consistently negative view of American history that highlights oppressors and exploiters,” and took it upon himself to become an opponent of Common Core. Specifically, he finds the depiction of Manifest Destiny as the belief of cultural superiority, rather than an expansion of democracy, to be upsetting. He also highlights the emphasis on minorities as an unpatriotic historical interpretation. 

States, such as Georgia and Oklahoma, feel that Common Core and College Board are imposing an unpatriotic curriculum in their education system. On the opposite side, many students and teachers feel that it is unfair for the state to deny the right to learn, and that learning the history of our country, even the bad is actually beneficial, and not harmful. In fact, a petition, started just a week ago already has over 20,000 signatures and can be located here: https://www.change.org/p/oklahoma-lawmakers-don-t-ban-ap-courses.

As Mr. Stewart always makes sure to do, history classes primary present the facts. Teachers and the College Board are not imposing their opinions on us, that is for us to decide. I think Matt Holtzen sums up it up perfectly when he says:

“[APUSH] teaches about America. Both the good and the bad. It teaches the parts that we like to focus on, that we can be proud of, but it also shows areas where we stumbled and, importantly, where we’ve been able to correct mistakes of the past,” - Matt Holtzen

I want to know what you guys think about the APUSH controversy.

If you are more interested in the consequences of these actions, you should read about the student response as well as the claims some in favor of the ban are making against College Board and the founder of Common Core.  

Sources: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/02/why-oklahoma-lawmakers-want-to-ban-ap-us-history.htmlhttp://hechingerreport.org/new-ap-u-s-history-really-anti-american/http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdfhttp://www.newsweek.com/oklahoma-teachers-are-not-too-pleased-about-bill-ban-ap-us-history-308129