By RACHEL EMERSON
Staff Reporter
The removal of an advanced placement U.S. history class in Oklahoma high schools is under debate because of what some feel is the class’ “unpatriotic” framework.
The A.P. U.S. history course is designed to enhance a student’s learning by teaching what history professors and researchers have agreed upon as the most important goal in a college level survey course in U.S. History, and “that students should learn to use historical facts and evidence to achieve deeper conceptual understandings of major developments in U.S. History.” To accomplish this goal, the course lays out a set of specific learning objectives that are later assessed on the A.P. exam for the course. The A.P. U.S. history curriculum framework that conveys the content and skills required for college credit and placement is available at media.collegeboard.com.
According to several news reports, Oklahoma Republican Rep. Dan Fisher is the lead author of a bill that passed in the House Education Committee Monday with 11 votes for and four against . Fisher is also a member of The Black Robe Regiment, an organization that seeks the dismantlement of the “false wall of separation between church and state.” The bill Fisher has presented prevents the funding for the A.P. class on the grounds that it teaches “what is wrong about America” and doesn’t include the idea of “American exceptionalism.”
In Section 2D of the amended law in the Bill written by Fisher, it is stated, “Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, the Board shall not award any grants to school districts or make any expenditure of state funds as authorized pursuant to this section for equipment, instructional materials, course development, professional development or training, examination awards or examination scholarships for the Advanced Placement United States History course until the College board changes the framework and examination that were used prior to the 2014-2015 school year.”
The Bill also includes what should be taught in not only the A.P. course but in normal U.S. history classes. It identifies several “documents, writings, speeches, proclamations and recordings related to the history, heritage and foundation of the United States” that should be includeded in the course and the exam. There is a list of the specific documents, including speeches from Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, but nothing from Barack Obama or any of the last few Democratic Presidents. It also include sermons by John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards and states that “The documents shall be used for educational purposes only and not to establish or promote any religion.”
College Board, the group managing the A.P. program, has spoken up in the debate. The leader of the program, Trevor Packer, argues that the new coursework has many examples of American exceptionalism and that it has a great deal of support from teachers and professors of college level U.S. history classes
It is apparent through a discussion on social media site Facebook, that it also has the support of students. High school students who have taken the course spoke out on Facebook about their experiences, stating that the course allows them to “knockout college credits early” and “have intelligent conversations about things that matter.”
Opponents fear that not only is the bill attacking A.P. U.S. history, but it could affect standards for all A.P. classes in the future.