EdWatch is
forwarding this press release from PABBIS with the note that many
school districts are now quietly adopting IB because federal grant money
is available to offset some of the costs. State legislatures are also
passing funding measures to offset the additional IB costs. Taxpayers
always pay the extra cost, however, regardless of which pot it is taken
from. Please discuss these issues with other parents, your local
school boards, and legislators.
Talking
points include the fact that IB curriculum is set by an international
body. Student tests are forwarded to Geneva, Switzerland for scoring, and
a foreign data base collects and stores the personal, values-laden data
on individual American students. IB is an outrageous violation of local
control. It also teaches the value of global citizenship. --
EdWatch
PABBIS -
P
arents
A
gainst
B
ad
B
ooks
I
n
S
chools
9 November 2005 News Release
--
www.pabbis.com
Cracking India - A Typical International Baccalaureate Program Book, A
Typical Curriculum Book Challenge
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program is now in over 500 schools
in the United States. On average it costs taxpayers about $200,000 per
year over regular school expenses to have the IB program in a school.
This is more than twice the cost of having an Advanced Placement (AP)
program. The IB program is run by the International Baccalaureate
Organization (IBO) in Geneva.
The IB program was started in the 1960's and in the 1990's UNESCO got
involved with the "aim of testing the feasibility of creating an
international education system" according to the September 1999
issue of its Educational Innovation and Information newsletter titled
"A Culture of Peace." In a statement called "The Road to
Peace," UNESCO said: "Let it be a school of values, of
attitudes, above all of practical action..." [Information from
The Washington Times, January 18, 2004 article by George
Archibald]
Thomas Sowell discussed the IB program in a February 26, 2004 column in
The Washington Times and said the IB program was "one of the
endless series of fad programs that distract American public schools from
real education in real subjects" and it had "a left-wing hidden
agenda." He quoted a parent critical of the program as saying it,
"promotes socialism, disarmament, radical environmentalism and moral
relativism, while attempting to undermine Christian religious values and
national sovereignty."
A June 30, 2004 article in EdWatch
(www.edwatch.org),
by Allen Quist said "IB themes taken together constitute a
worldview--an overall philosophy of life. According to UNESCO, the
worldview taught by IB includes the promotion of the Earth Charter (a
religious/pantheistic document), the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (which views human rights the same way Communist countries view
human rights) and multiculturalism (which is based on the ideology of
Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci)." Quist also says that,
"America's foundational principles of national sovereignty, natural
law and inalienable rights are at odds with the IB curriculum and are not
taught." and that "IB is a transformational system of education
which exists to promote internationalism. It is structured to change
the attitudes, values, beliefs and behavior of its students to
conform to the world government system." [Bold emphasis - PABBIS]
The IB program is nearly always introduced into schools at the initiative
of the school system, rather than at the request of parents. The IB
program almost always pushes out the AP classes and the IB program has
much less focus on advanced science and math classes. IB classes and
tests result in students receiving little or no college course credit
compared to what they would obtain for AP classes and tests.
In addition to all the above concerns, PABBIS receives a greatly
disproportionate number of complaints about books from parents of
children in the IB program. Some parents have not entered or have
withdrawn from the IB program just to avoid running the gauntlet of
controversial IB program books. Some of the previous PABBIS News on books
used in the Fairfax County, VA IB program is at the end of this article.
Shortly after school started this fall, the parent of an 11th grade IB
program student in Florida got upset about a book, Cracking India,
that her child was (supposedly) required to read. This book had explicit
language, a description of a 9-year old girl's encounter with her teenage
cousin's genitilia and being propositioned by him for oral sex, and the
girl later having sexual fantasies. The book was being used for the first
time this year. The parent started her interaction with the teacher and
school which went like this:
1) The parent requested another book for her child. The teacher refused
and threatened the parent that her child would have to read the book or
withdraw from the class and IB program. This threat/lie is common in the
IB program when parents want an alternative book for their child.
2) The Principal said the teacher used Cracking India since it was
recommended in the IB training the teacher had attended. This type of
"training" is one reason why IB is more expensive. PABBIS
wonders where this training was conducted. In Fairfax County training for
AP teachers occurs locally. IB teacher training occurs all around the
country and world. In 2002 a Fairfax County IB coordinator traveled to
Bangkok to deliver a speech entitled "The Community of Caring."
3) The Principal said the student had to read specific books in IB and
not doing so could cause the student to have "problems in the
future." Quote from September 13, 2005 article by Linda Trimble
[
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/WestVolusia/03WVolW=
EST01091305.htm
]
3) The Principal eventually offered the parent an alternative book. The
IB program allows other books to be used and the parent should have been
told this in the first place instead of being lied to and threatened.
Note that even with the alternative book the parent and student are still
under the vague threat of "problems in the future."
4) The parent challenged the book. The parent expressed concern that the
parents of the other children in the class didn't know what was in the
book.
5) The Principal made statements about everything being in the open and
how parents knew what was coming, how nothing is hidden, how parents were
warned and signed and returned a letter saying they agreed. Statements
like these are often made but the truth is different. The parents simply
received a list of books that said there was college level material in
the class. This is very typical - the school does not inform parents
about specifics of controversial content in the books. When parents find
out they get upset. The parents begin to not trust the school because
they are surprised by the graphic nature of the material. The schools
distort the truth saying things like the principal did in this case and
that makes parents distrust the schools even more. It is ironic that in
the IB program, which is very big on multi-culturalism and values, that
there is no respect for parents and students whose culture and values
don't include graphic and explicit material.
6) Various people from inside and outside the school system say things
like the parent shouldn't be able to challenge the book because an
alternative is allowed.
7) The school system and/or media get some outside expert (normally ALA,
ACLU, NCTE and their affiliates) to make a statement on why the challenge
is flawed. One of the statements that showed up in this case was by Pat
Scales, who is the author of (surprise!) Teaching Banned Books.
She often shows up in the press on book challenges making statements
about how no parent has the right pick books for a child other than their
child. She never says how this really means challenges to books should
not even be allowed. She never says how the school is picking
books for children other than theirs.
8) The school system and/or media get the author of the book to make a
comment on the challenge. The author nearly always makes a statement
(surprise!) against the challenge. In this case the author said the
controversial material was "just high jinks" and implied
somehow it was different because the 9-year old didn't provide the oral
sex. The author said the oral sex encounter was "very
innocent." [Author quotes from September 13, 2005 Orlando Sentinel
article by Erika Hobbs.]
9) The school system forms a book challenge committee with membership
designed, as usual, to achieve the desired pre-determined outcome: School
right, parent wrong.
10 The committee decided the book was fine and recommended the challenge
not be approved. During deliberations and in discussions after, constant
note was made of the fact that the parent had the "option" of
an alternative book. The committee's recommendation was sent to the
Superintendent. Hmmm, wonder what the Superintendent will decide? Parent
right, school wrong, committee wrong? - NOT!
11) The district's reading and language-arts specialist (Sue Schilsky)
said, "They [students] have to be exposed to things that are
not necessarily comfortable" and "The decision we make today
is far-reaching." [District specialist quotes from November,
2005 Orlando Sentinel article by Ken Ma. Bold emphasis - PABBIS].
Schilsky sounds a little confused - according to everything decided the
parent and student can select an alternative book and not "be
exposed." However, Schilsky's comment is very revealing in that it
shows she (and many others) really want to MAKE your child read the book.
And so it goes, and without respect for parental rights and Upfront
Informed Parental Consent it will continue to go like this. Why won't
schools provide parents the specifics of controversial material in books
BEFORE students read them? Are they embarrassed of the content? Do they
have some hidden agenda? Do they really want to MAKE your child read the
book?
A September 13, 2005 article on WESH.com about Cracking India
quoted the Principal as saying, "International Baccalaureate not
only featured it, they had their top person for IB North America leading
this week-long in-depth study."
More and more parents are becoming aware what the IB program is about and
what is in IB program books.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - Previous PABBIS News on books used in the Fairfax County, VA IB
program
One Hundred Years of Solitude - required reading for rising IB
11th graders (17 July 2003 and 29 June 2004 PABBIS News). The author of
this book, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, an aging socialist, is an ardent
supporter of the Cuban Government. The two main themes of this dreamlike
book, from the so-called "magical realism" genre, are solitude
and incest. One review said this book "has a lot of violence, much
incestuous sex, and plenty of anti-capitalism and anti-clericism."
Another said there is "enough incest to keep those with even the
shortest attention spans turning pages." Raping your sister, sex
with another sister, sex with your aunt, a "zoological brothel"
where dog gives stud services to be fed, a child with a "raw
back" whose grandmother makes her service 70 men a night for 20
cents each, a male prostitute with a huge sexual organ, balancing beer on
his "inconceivable maleness," are some of the controversial
material. See PABBIS Excerpts for more controversial material.
Bless Me Ultima - required reading for rising IB 9th graders (17
July 2003 PABBIS News). See PABBIS Excerpts for controversial material.
The House of Spirits - required reading for IB 11th graders (8
March 2001 PABBIS News). Contains graphic details of sexual acts, rape,
physical abuse, torture and killing of animals and people, bestiality,
child molestation, drug use, prostitution, and necrophilia. Vulgar and
perverted content is pervasive throughout the book. Among the numerous
sexual and violent passages in this book is a detailed description of a
man in a sexual/strangulation scene with a 6-year-old girl. Elsewhere in
this book, a child watches a man kiss her sister's naked corpse
(intestines already removed) on the lips, the neck, the breasts and
between the legs. See PABBIS Excerpts for more controversial material.
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - required reading for
IB 11th graders (8 March 2001 PABBIS News). This book is about a 12-year
old Japanese boy who is able to spy into his widowed mother's bedroom
through a hole in the wall. He is able to see her having sex with her
sailor boyfriend. The mother makes plans to marry the sailor. The boy and
his friends discuss how much they hate "fathers" and they plot
to kill the sailor. They experiment on a kitten, torturing and mutilating
it. By the end of the book, they have drugged the sailor, brandished a
knife and are donning rubber gloves to kill him. The book is full of
graphic and vulgar descriptions of sexual acts and violence. See PABBIS
Excerpts for more controversial material.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold - required reading for IB 11th
graders (8 March 2001 PABBIS News). See PABBIS Excerpts for controversial
material.
Town Hall on Book Selection (16 May 2002 PABBIS News) - A speaker said,
"My children sought alternate books. This was a very emotionally
painful experience for my children. Often friendly teachers would turn
cold towards them, and some were openly hostile. We were very grateful to
those few teachers who were tolerant of a differing opinion of a book.
Both of my daughters had to pull out of IB English courses and switch to
regular level courses to facilitate these changes in reading
material."
www.pabbis.com
PABBIS News Release 9NOV2005
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