My kids all go to Catholic school. This is a new school and I haven’t completely made up my mind about it. I loved our parish school which was closed down last year due to lack of children. I see many good things about the new school. But this perturbed me a bit.
My seventh grade daughter has been assigned to read a book called “Jefferson’s Sons” which is all about Thomas Jefferson’s alleged affair with a slave girl which produced children. I asked her why this was an important book to read and she said her teacher didn’t explain why. I asked her if she’d ever been assigned to read The Declaration of Independence by this teacher or any other. She said she had not. Now, I’ve gone over the Declaration with my kids but the school hadn’t.
Isn’t it more than a little bizarre that these kids haven’t even been assigned to read the Declaration of Independence but they’re assigned to read about the alleged moral failings of one of our country’s founding fathers.
Maybe I’m overreacting. What do you guys think?
April 12, 2013 at 4:59 am
Sounds like an outrage. I'd refuse to let my kids do it. I'd read it myself, write the report, turn it in to the teacher, and say they'll either give my kid credit for my work because of my refusal to expose her to that garbage or they'll have to defend their choice of reading materials before the principal.
My wife's dad did something similar once. She was late to school because of him, so he showed up to serve her detention. They dropped the whole thing.
April 12, 2013 at 5:00 am
You are not over-reacting. If I were you I would ask the teacher, principal, and others about the curriculum and how it differs from what government schools teach.
It is your right, and no Catholic school worth the name would even consider offering the same trash that government schools do.
April 12, 2013 at 5:04 am
How old is your kid? That sounds like fairly adult reading.
Maybe it's just me but I'm skeptical when teachers assign books that are not "classics".
I say read the book and find out what's in it. I suspect it's not good. Then you will have a better idea of what's wrong with this assignment.
April 12, 2013 at 5:06 am
Maybe overreacting. We must teach the truth. When you teach the truth is up to parents but, the truth will come out. Our founding fathers, rabid anti-Catholics they were, were still great men who, with God's help brought something to this earth that is special. This nation. Are they "perfect?" Of course not, when do we talk about this imperfection? Up to you. Also important to understand this imperfection through the lens of history. In their time many of them were pretty good men. When do you tell your daughter that in many States Catholics were not allowed to hold office or vote? Up to you, but it is the truth and important for a complete understanding.
I too am tired of playing games with my Catholic school so next year we are giving home schooling with Seton a try.
April 12, 2013 at 1:51 pm
We love Seton! Best wishes to you!
April 12, 2013 at 5:21 am
Not an overreaction. Make a stink. If they ignore you, home educate. You don't have to teach perfectly. You just have to do slightly better than teachers like that.
April 12, 2013 at 5:32 am
I think that by seventh grade this might be an acceptable footnote in a history text, but a WHOLE BOOK dedicated to this? The book, let me point out, is also a work of fiction, so it immediately loses its claim to "telling the truth" about our nation's founders. What a waste of time. What concerns me more is the wonderful books she could be reading instead of this hyperfocus on one founder's sins. It's a particularly rich period in history for good children's literature, so, doubly unacceptable.
I home school, so I have a pretty thin skin when it comes to PC agenda-driven slog directed at my kids. I would endure any sort of poverty to exercise the right to pick my own curriculum. But, if you don't have that freedom, I would pick some sort of tolerance limit for your family. One of these goofy teachers per semester? Fine. Two or more seems like a deal-breaker and not worth your money, or the risk that the school's formation will eventually trump yours.
Best of luck to you.
April 12, 2013 at 5:43 am
Get the book "The Jefferson Lies" by David Barton so that your daughter can learn the truth about these alleged sons of Jefferson. If it were me, I'd get my daughter out of school and teach her at home.
April 12, 2013 at 5:54 am
Not overreacting in the least. I heard your concerns years ago from a family friend (military) who was outraged that the Catholic school his kids attended taught them all about Rosie the Riveter but nothing else about World War II in the fourth or fifth grade (and the class was history, so they were skipping a big piece of history to ignore everything about WWII except for Rosie). That family friend went from thinking we homeschoolers were crazy kooks to signing up to homeschool his own kids…
Jefferson's personal failings, whatever the truth about them may be, have little to do with his importance to the origins of our nation, and any school that would focus on the former and exclude the latter has some serious explaining to do.
April 12, 2013 at 6:13 am
"Here's an introduction to a founding father: questionable accusations accusing him of being a rapist!"
…
Yeah, not over-reacting. I get mad enough when folks throw out that "fact" without being Catholic; add in that they're supposed to be teaching how to be Catholic, and swallowing that theory and pushing it above and beyond why the guy is important stinks on ice.
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April 12, 2013 at 8:24 am
These kinds of bias that have infiltrated our public school systems are exactly why I homeschool my daughter. She does Christian homeschooling and learns how God fits into science and history, instead of God believe refused and ignored in public education. I recommend homeschooling to anyone who has the ability to do so.
-the other anon
April 12, 2013 at 8:35 am
It's a matter of balance. It sounds as if the teacher is pushing the empathy/victim button to harvest an emotional reaction rather than a rational one; a feature of so much education now.
Great men with great ideas also tend to have great flaws and historical study calls for a rounded picture. As Cromwell instructed his portrait painter, Lely: "Warts and everything".
It seems to be a modern trend to use superficial and wholly 21st century judgements for a time which was significantly different. Wrong is wrong, but the context must also be examined to explain the how and the why.
April 12, 2013 at 10:01 am
I was just at Kneeling Catholic: "Fr. Baron Thinks Gays Should Come Out Of The Closet". Beside the point I'm not surprised. Kneeling Catholic's point here is No! People All should not call attention and public discussion of what should be private. etc. Bingo!
Go to the I pay for this Catholic school and ask genuinely 'What is the purpose". Then say No.
April 12, 2013 at 10:45 am
At this age, it is enough to learn that TJ was a slave owner, despite his good contributions to his country's foundations. You are not overreacting. If the teacher needs some ideas for more age-appropriate and better balanced books, email me or check out any of the online stores that cater to homeschoolers.
April 12, 2013 at 11:32 am
OUTRAGE!!! Go in and raise a fuss.
April 12, 2013 at 12:12 pm
In our public school my daughter learned about the Constitution from the social studies teacher who now is also our mayor. I don't know of any of those students not registering to vote upon turning 18.
Since this is Texas, I hardly need add that every student was well grounded in Texas history in 7th grade.
We all must vote, for president, for school board, for parish council.
April 12, 2013 at 12:29 pm
If they were pushing a book about Pope Joan or about what a hero M. Luther was, I'd be speaking with the principal, but for the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, Bible editing Jefferson? Not so much. We don't need hagiographies of the founders, who were far from saints. Have you read what even a devoutly Christian John Adams had to say about Mother Church? Not pretty. Jefferson had nothing but vitriol for Catholicism, which he saw as suppressing the much more 'reasonable' Arianism! I'd save my complaints in case things get really out of hand in teaching the Faith.
April 12, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Anonymous, did you listen to Fr. Barron's comments in context? He was arguing against SSM. The point you are misrepresenting was simply that he is against the idea that those with same sex attraction need to pretend they are attracted to members of the opposite sex, he was not endorsing the gay lifestyle or homosexual sex. Repeat after me CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT. God Bless.
April 12, 2013 at 12:37 pm
As a former social studies teacher (in a Catholic school), no way would I use that book. It's not real 'history', albeit maybe an interesting side bar if students would want to read it on their own-at an older age. In middle school, I have always tried to give my students the basics (constitution, declaration, etc) and many of the facts without trying to slant it too much already; they will get the slanted stuff in high school and college. Also, since I have taught in parochial schools, I know they have standards according to NY and I am sure that subject is not on the new standards/core curriculum-I just hope your daughter learn real facts and figures in history as well. I would email/meet with the teacher if I were you. And ask if they are also going to be assigned a book on the infidelity of Bill Clinton as well. Sheesh.
April 12, 2013 at 12:44 pm
we just pulled our kids out of class this last February, refusing to let them read a similar book in our Catholic school. Big fight with administration…..but we won. Couldn't believe the drama involved. STICK TO YOUR GUNS! You are NOT over reacting. You will be mocked and scourged BECAUSE you are doing the right thing…but it is the only thing to do. God bless.