Blake Harrison and Alex Rappaport
Posted on 10/02/2010 12:12:50 AM PDT by Daffynition
Concern over a new hip-hop curriculum that refers to the founding fathers as "old dead white men" has delayed the program's rollout for at-risk students, Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Karl Springer said.
"We're making sure that whatever we do, first, we do no harm," Springer said. "The science behind the concept is wonderful. There may be some things, though, that are inappropriate that we need to be careful about."
Known as Flocabulary, the program is a music-based educational tool that uses raps, rhythms and rhymes to help students learn and memorize everything from vocabulary and English to math and social studies.
About 15 teachers have complained or expressed concern about the rap song lyrics, said Ed Allen, president of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers.
"I just don't think we were real careful where we deployed it," Allen said. "Not all parts of it are real affective for the more troubled youth."
It is the U.S. history curriculum that has raised concern.
One of the rap songs — "Old Dead White Men" — chronicles the shortcomings of the early leaders in the United States.
Of President James Monroe's tenure, the rap says: "White men getting richer than Enron./ They stepping on Indians, women and blacks./ Era of Good Feeling doesn't come with the facts."
That's followed up by an assessment of President Andrew Jackson's checkered dealings with American Indians.
"Andrew Jackson, thinks he's a tough guy./ Killing more Indians than there are stars in the sky./ Evil wars of Florida killing the Seminoles./ Saying hello, putting Creek in the hell holes./ Like Adolf Hitler he had the final solution./ 'No, Indians, I don't want you to live here anymore.'"
Springer said he was concerned about some of the lyrics, and that's why the district is holding off on the program until it's been evaluated.
Flocabulary CEO and co-founder Alex Rappaport said the lyrics are made intentionally provocative and sometimes humorous to create student engagement among some of the toughest-to-reach students in the nation.
"In general, the purpose of our program is to motivate students, and we often say the enemy here is student apathy," Rappaport said. "We want students to ask questions and challenge assumptions that are made and think critically about historical themes."
Flocabulary is not used as a core textbook but rather as supplemental material that highlights certain academic standards and background knowledge. The rap songs also come with a corresponding guidebook that breaks down the lyrics line by line to explain what they mean.
"Some students are incredibly motivated to go on to read their history textbooks with more passion," Rappaport said.
The Oklahoma City School District has spent about $10,000 so far on the music and corresponding textbooks, Springer said. The Oklahoma City School Board authorized the district to spend up to $97,000 in federal funds on the program.
It was to be mainly used in the district's Extended Education sites, such as juvenile detention centers or hospitals. Springer said before the controversy, it also was to be used at Rogers Middle School.
In June, two of the program's founders visited an Oklahoma City charter school that had purchased the program. They also spoke to district administrators about the benefits of Flocabulary.
The program will begin later this year at Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth Academy, Superintendent Janet Grigg said.
At SeeWorth, music teacher Henry Rice has been using raps and lyrics for years to help students learn. Last year, his classes wrote, sang and produced a song about the tragedy in Haiti and another about the Holocaust.
"All of our students are 'at promise,'" Grigg said. "They learn in a different way."
Grigg said Flocabulary seemed like a natural fit, and that while the program hasn't been implemented yet, it will be used this year in many courses, especially math.
"We won't be using anything in that program that is offensive," Grigg said. "Our motto is: 'We don't show disrespect, and we don't disrupt learning.'"
Blake Harrison and Alex Rappaport
This sounds so lame I can’t imagine any “troubled” students taking it seriously.
Again time to plug the masterful 4th season of The Wire as it looks at the problems in inner city schools.
Of course they are! They intend to destroy this country and replace it with a Marxist Utopia, the Peoples Paradise, where we all lovingly practice From Each According to His Ability, To Each according to His Need, under the direction and guidance of an intellectually superior elite who plans everything for us. We need only to be faithful drones and do our jobs without complaint or dissent.
The Nation cannot withstand this for long. If American patriots do not find courage to act the Nation will fall!
We have been withstanding it since the late 1800's when Vladimir Lenin dispatched Julius Hammer to this country to raise money to support the Communist and their revolution in Russia. That eventually gave us the USSR (1917) in Europe and the Communist Party USA (1907) in our country. It also began the infiltration of most of our society.
Since they couldn't defeat us militarily they have practiced a slow, stealthy subversion of our culture by infiltrating all our institutions, including the government. That is what this is all about.
This time they were so successful in actually getting an outright Marxist, who was not even qualified, elected President, they no longer see a need for stealth. It is now in-your-face defiance of the American people and our Constitution.
Thankfully, they misjudged the American people, giving rise to the Tea Party Movement and now we are about to sweep them from office. Even then it will take a long time with a sustained effort to undo all they have done. We don't even know all they have done, yet. They are hoping we will tire and their combination of labor unions, government employees unions, teachers unions, the print media, the television media, the entertainment industry, foreign sources of money, and all else they have established as a base, will once again regain control. We can't let that happen.
No matter how much whites grovel. No matter how much they insist race doesn’t matter. It will be crammed up our rear end until either we acquiesce to our destruction or we say no more. Race is the battering ram to eliminate our culture, nation and ultimately us as a people.
Are you naive enough to think only blacks preach black liberation theology? Father Jeffery Feiger, a white supposed Catholic priest, is a frequent guest speaker at Reverend Jeremiah Wright's church. Black liberation theology is simply Marxism taught in the Christian environment.
Flager is the priest, Fieger is Kevorkian’s old lawyer and all purpose nut job.
Thanks. It is hard to keep these Commies separated, especially when they have similar sounding names.
So many nut jobs, so little time.
government funds were being used to indoctrinate the postmodernism worldview mentality into the kids in order to spread acceptance of emotionalism,altruism, collectivism, statism and socialism.
Oh yeah, the noles kicked butt today! On a side note, this is totally stupid!
:o)
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