The Battle for U.S. History

[Valin]

National Review:

Conservatives should worry less about Common Core and more about the College Board.

Mona Charen

Jan. 9 2014

 

Nine months from now, Republican candidates for president will meet on the stage of the Reagan Presidential Library (with the old Air Force One providing great visuals) for the first debate of the 2016 race. It seems likely that among those in attendance will be at least four — Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and Jeb Bush — who support (or once supported) the Common Core. Republicans are about to find out what’s been percolating among the grass roots. Properly undertaken, a debate about Common Core could be healthy for the party and country. Or it could be an unholy squabble over rumors and bogeymen. We’ll see.

 

(Snip)

 

But as my Ethics and Public Policy Center colleague Stanley Kurtz has argued, left-wing activists are forever beavering away, shaping what young Americans learn about their past and accordingly what they believe about the present. One vector is the College Board, the company that designs and administers the Advanced Placement tests. The AP American history test is currently under revision, and none of the changes is good. As Chester Finn and Frederick Hess wrote in National Review Online, “There’s little about economics that doesn’t feel caricatured or framed in terms of government efforts to combat injustice. Students are introduced to decade after decade of American racism and depravity, with little positive context for the nation’s foreign engagements or its success creating shared prosperity . . . The bias is especially stark when it comes to the 20th century’s iconic presidents. FDR and LBJ are treated reverently . . . [whereas] Reagan is described . . . as a man of ‘bellicose rhetoric.’”

 

(Snip)

 

There are many reasons to favor high standards in schools and to adopt a national curriculum. The danger, of course, is the political content. At some point, Common Core may attempt to adopt objectionable history standards. That hasn’t happened yet. In the meantime, the College Board is the battlefield. The changes to AP U.S. history have not been formally adopted. The College Board is open to comments. The deadline is February. Here’s the link.

 

Conservatives should deluge them.