School board refuses to relent on reviews of history classes

GOLDEN, Colo. -- A suburban Denver school board refused to back off plans to review U.S. history courses for what some see as anti-American content, despite protests from students and parents who accused the new conservative majority of trying to indoctrinate children politically.

A school board meeting drew hundreds Thursday, with crowds overflowing into the parking lot where they watched the meeting with popcorn and cries of "Resign!" and "Recall!"

As the conservative majority voted to go forward with plans to review classes, two women on the board who opposed them held their heads in their hands.

"This isn't over," said Ashlyn Maher, 18, a Chatfield High School senior who has helped organize protests over the past two weeks. "We are going to fight until we see some results."

At issue is a new approach to Advanced Placement history classes -- meant to prepare students for college -- that focuses more on examining historical documents and discussing the nation's history, rather than memorizing facts. Some conservatives say the course was influenced by a movement in academia to de-emphasize the United States' uniqueness and treat it as one nation among many.

Board member Julie Williams had called for a review of the new AP classes to ensure course materials promote patriotism and respect for authority and don't "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law."

Students, teachers and parents complained Williams and the others are trying to sanitize U.S. history and de-emphasize the role of social unrest such as the civil-rights movement and the campaign for women's equality.

The board didn't vote on Williams' language, but she refused to take it off the table, saying she wants to keep all options open. She insisted she is trying to make the curriculum fair and not censor anything.

"I hope this is a defining moment for this board, that there is no one on the board who supports censorship," she said to some applause.

School board president Ken Witt said students were being used as "pawns" of teachers, who are upset about a system that awards raises based on performance.

That infuriated students and their parents.

"This is America. Stop calling us names when we exercise our rights," said Lisa Cooke, a mother of two students.

Another parent, Robert Gleason, after pointing at the Colorado flag in the front of the room, told the board he didn't want the school district to follow in the path of Texas, where the state school board has told teachers to stick to state history standards, not the new course framework that some view as anti-American.

The school board voted on what it was said was a compromise: It agreed to add students to the standing committee that reviews curriculum, instead of forming a new panel without students.

But Maher and the opposing board members said that's not enough.

"They will still be able to push their own agenda using this," Maher said. As for putting students on the committee, "I don't think they will necessarily be listened to. Their voices will be drowned out by everyone else."

A few people showed up to support the conservative members of the board, who listened calmly to the mounting criticism. One of the outnumbered supporters of the conservative members held up a copy of the state constitution, pointing out that it gives local school boards the power to make decisions about curriculum.

Before the meeting, both supporters and critics of the board demonstrated outside.

Carole Morenz, holding a small American flag and a sign that said, "History matters. Know the truth," said she traveled from Pueblo to protest the conservatives' move to change the way history is taught.

Students "will lose the knowledge of what made America great," Morenz said.

Sarina Phu, 17, one of several students who spoke to about 300 opponents of the school board from the back of a pickup truck, said some of the nation's greatest achievements, including civil rights and equality for women, were achieved through protests and social unrest.

Phu, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, praised the U.S. as a nation where people from all backgrounds can thrive, but said students need to learn about the negative sides of its story, including the mistreatment of Native Americans and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

"Would you like to sweep us under the rug, too, just like our histories?" she asked.

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Associated Press writers Ivan Moreno, Thomas Peipert and Sadie Gurman contributed to this report.