Posted on 02/22/2005 2:55:14 PM PST by DirtyHarryY2K
(CBN News) - As the nation observes the 273rd anniversary of George Washington's birth, our first president's accomplishments are fading from the nation's consciousness. Many public school children no longer learn about President Washington in the classroom.
Some states have even removed required teaching about Washington from their standards of learning (SOLs), saying specific instruction about Washington is not needed.
James Rees is the executive director of Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home.
Rees said, “I think the concept that people will learn about Washington, Jefferson, [and] Adams through some sort of osmosis is ridiculous.”
He added, “To think that generations of Americans are not being introduced to this hero, this great leader, is in my mind inexcusable, and quite shameful.”
But school children are not learning about great Americans like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They are not learning a lot of other basics of American history, either. And it is a problem that is getting worse.
A recent survey conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni shows that four out of five seniors from the top 55 colleges and universities received a grade of "D" or "F" on their knowledge of American history. They could not identify Valley Forge, famous words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the Constitution.
Why don't they know the basics of American history? Part of the reason may be because students can now graduate from 100 percent of the top colleges in the United States without taking a single course in American history.
And 78 percent of colleges and universities do not require students to take any history at all.
As for Washington, Rees says school textbooks today have as little as one-tenth the coverage of him as they had 30 or 40 years ago. And, he believes that Americans no longer appreciate the legacy that Washington left behind.
Rees commented, “It's impossible to overstate how much George Washington's character and leadership formed this country and enabled it to stay the course, to become the great country we are today.”
Nevermind him -- Who Is John Galt?
His virtue, his humility, his commitment to American indepndence and liberty should be taught to every child in this nation.
To cease doing so is to cease teaching kids about what this nation stands for and is based upon...but wait, that's probably the whole idea for the NEA isn't it?
Wasn't he a football player or something?
Ironic, isn't it, the we had the best and the worst presidents in the first two presidents?
I thought he founded the state of Washington.......LOL
Most youngsters that graduate this day and age know very little about anything related to our founders, what little they do learn is chock full of revisionism.
It just makes you wonder if ALL students learn about George Washington is that he was a slave owner!
And it is disgraceful that the colleges are not requiring history, American and Western Civ anymore. And I am VERY sure that's just the way the NEA likes it.
I homeschool and I remember finding out that the ancient Greeks had two views of education. The one for the ruling class consisted of what a college USED to require. What we get today was the kind of education that was only allowed for slaves, strictly a vocational one.
Do the think that the NEA may have that as an aim? /sarcasm
Did he build that bridge over to Joisey?
What's the beef with Adams?
LOL!!!!
By devaluing the wonder that's America, they will get the coming generations to believe that there's no difference between America and any other country. And that will insure that America becomes no different.
Mark
The examples he set, standards for a President, all make him the greatest, yes. How incredibly lucky this republic was to have a man of such genuine character.
Huh? You feel that John Adams was the worst president?
Mark
Kids can't learn about Washington, Adams, et al in public schools. These men's speeches frequently quoted scripture, referenced God, and credited religion as the source of America's strength. And so, to avoid being sued for a 1st Amendment violation, schools first edited out most of the great speeches (such as Washington's farewell address) and then quit focusing on the men altogether. They are just not multicultural enough.
Adams the worst prez? Why? While I can't say I agree with him on everything, I cannot think of something he did that makes him more ineffective, scandal-causing, immoral, and/or criminal than a good many others (Grant, Harding, Carter, Clinton....)
He enacted the Alien" and "Sedition" acts. On his defeat, and before the end of his term, he packed the court with federalist judges, one of which was Marbury, who, in the infamous Marbury v Madison, forever interpretted the Constitution to mean exactly what the Supreme Court Justices says it means. It is what allows our government, especially the judiciary, to run rough shod over the Constitution's original intent....his federalist views are the reason he hated Jefferson so.
Here in Asheville, NC the schools were closed in commemoration of MLKjr day, but open and who gives a durn for Presidents day. I wish I wish I could get homeschool going.
Kinda sends the message to students that the content of your contribution to this country is important unless you are a non- white male secularist.
Good reasons.
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