Re: politics as usual

gkcunn01 who-is-at ulkyvm.louisville.edu
Sun, 09 Nov 1997 22:57:28 -0500

At 02:26 PM 11/9/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Jay's description of business as usual leaves out a vital element: some
>group that is extremely well connected knows how to use the law making
>procedures in Congress and state legislatures to get laws passed which
>establish a state/national curriculun and methodology in a field of
>education
>(in this case literacy education). And they do it in such a way that the
>legislators/representatives are not even aware of what they voted for.
>Such a group needs to be very well commected: well enough to get Time,
>Newsweek, Atlantic Monthly, and USNews to all run major stories with the
>same viewpoint just at the time when the bill hits Congress.

In Kentucky a taskforce made up of legislators is proposing legislation
that would mandate that state schools of education begin preparing teachers
to use phonics to teach reading. Paradoxically, regulations have already
been passsed that make it a violations of ethical codes, punishable by
dismissal, to teach writing in any way other than the process approach. It
is unethical, if not illegal to correct student work in this state. I know
this sounds fantastic but the law is unambiguous on this point. The
attorney for the state department of education was quoted in a local
newspaper as saying that such teacher behaviors may also be a criminal
offense.

George K. Cunningham

University of Louisville