To the Editor:
The sky is falling! The Russians are coming! No. Wait. The sky is falling and the Russians are coming!

This is essentially the message in a recent letter to the Sentinel authored by Linda Bishop. It claims
the above disasters will happen if Ohio adopts Common Core. It will teach our kids that Socialism and
Communism are good and that Democracy and Capitalism are bad.
Nothing is farther from the truth. The Common Core was developed by the National Association of
Governors, and has been adopted by 45 states. The Core recommends that schools should be teaching
thinking skills and basic writing and math skills. How students are to attain those skills is left up to
school districts. Lord knows it would be fantastic if students grasped those skills that would prepare
them for jobs and careers and their role as active citizens.
The critique of public education offered by Bishop is not the only one being bandied around. In Jefferson
County, CO, the Board of Education wants schools to emphasize only the "positive aspects" of
our history; and, to minimize time spent on failures. I assume that means to not teach about episodes
such as slavery, the massacre of America Indians, torture, inequality, etc. Stick to the good stuff;
learning from mistakes is not important – why would anyone think we could learn valuable lessons from
the past?
Several states also want to miseducate our youth. Kansas wants to teach creationism, not (godless)
evolution. Texas wants to help students deny climate change. Debating what is worth knowing is not wrong
in itself, but what is taught must be the product of thoughtful and insightful discussion, not knee-jerk
reactionism. I do not see that effort in the above attempts at educational reform. I see politics and
ideology.
Here are four suggestions to those terrified by what is being taught in schools today.
First, turn off Fox News and hate radio. One cannot think clearly while being bombarded by extreme
prejudice and rants from the right. Second, see the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest."
Third, read Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States and fourth, subscribe to the
website Reader Supported News. When you have done this, you will be rewarded with a sky that is not
falling and a world in which the Russians are not coming.
Jim Litwin
Bowling Green