Educators and activists requested support from lawmakers last week in the fight against upcoming changes the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History curriculum and exam. These critics argue the backers of the Common Core curriculum are now trying to change the AP U.S. History test.
The group voiced their concerns before the House Common Education Committee during an intermission of the group’s interim study on the aftermath of the state’s Common Core repeal.
“The new framework shifts away from the current AP U.S. history emphasis on our founding fathers and the principals of economics and religious freedoms,” said Sandy Hodges, a former AP U.S. History professor. “We are here to ask the state Legislature respectfully, after hearing what’s going on in AP U.S. History, to take a stand with us against this new framework.”
Hodges, current Wagoner County assessor, said she had “grave concerns about the new framework and how it came about.”
“History has not changed, it’s happened but the College Board’s new framework takes a global transnational look at U.S. History, as they call it,” she said. “In the new framework the United States is no longer the city on a hill, described by John Winthrop, nor is it the place where Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech is celebrated. In their new framework, the nation is dominated by racism, greed, oppression ever since its founding.”
An article in the Huffington Post says, "The authors of the new framework recently noted in an open letter that they did not include the specific mention of historical figures in the course's framework because teachers already know to educate students on these leaders."
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