A preface to the listed course requirements includes a quotation from a South African scholar, Njabulo Ndebele: “The need to maintain control over English by its native speakers has given birth to a policy of manipulative open-mindedness in which it is held that English belongs to all who use it provided that it is used correctly. This is the art of giving away the bride while insisting that she still belongs to you.”

Among the complaints cited by students in letters they delivered in December to the dean of the School of Education, Deborah Shanley, is Ms. Parmar’s alleged disapporval of students who defended the ability to speak grammatically correct English.

Speaking of Ms. Parmar, one student, Evan Goldwyn, wrote: “She repeatedly referred to English as a language of oppressors and in particular denounced white people as the oppressors. When offended students raised their hands to challenge Professor Parmar’s assertion, they were ignored. Those students that disagreed with her were altogether denied the opportunity to speak.”

Students also complained that Ms. Parmar dedicated a class period to the screening of an anti-Bush documentary by Michael Moore, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” a week before last November’s presidential election, and required students to attend the class even if they had already seen the film. Students said Ms. Parmar described “Fahrenheit 9/11” as an important film to see before they voted in the election.

“Most troubling of all,” Mr. Goldwyn wrote, “she has insinuated that people who disagree with her views on issues such as Ebonics or Fahrenheit 911 should not become teachers.”

Students who filed complaints with the dean said they have received no response from the college administration. Instead, they said, the administration and Ms. Parmar have retaliated against them, accusing Mr. Goldwyn and another student of plagiarism in January after the semester ended.

Ms. Parmar referred a reporter’s inquiries to a spokeswoman for Brooklyn College. Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Inc., a New York City public relations firm representing the CUNY school, later responded. The firm’s Colleen Roche told the Sun that Ms. Shanley, dean of the education school, spoke with students about their complaints December 21.

Though students said Ms. Parmar did not inform them about the new dispositions assessment policy, an e-mail obtained by the Sun from one of Ms. Parmar’s colleagues, Barbara Winslow, suggests that the aspiring teachers were in the process of being evaluated by the new standard.

Writing to three history professors, including Mr. Johnson, who had Mr. Goldwyn as their student, Ms. Winslow said the School of Education had “serious concerns about his disruptive behavior in the SOE classroom as well as aggressive and bullying behavior toward his professor outside the class.”

She wrote: “The School of Ed is trying to be more systematic in looking at what educators call ‘dispositions,’ that is behaviors necessary for being a successful teacher in the public schools. Being able to do excellent academic work, does not always translate into being a thoughtful, self-reflective and effective teacher for youngsters.”

KC Johnson, a noted rising star historian ( and no conservative either), was one of the first to shine a light on this under-the -radar attempt at the politicization of American public school classrooms by multicultural leftists, now effective for 37 States. But he doesn’t have to be the last.

Write your legislators. Write to the Bush administration.Political agendas do not belong in our children’s classrooms. It’s time to change how schools and universities are accreditated if political indoctrination by wingnuts is going to be the litmus test.

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  1. J.:

    Cheer up – there’s always the Kansas schools out there to balance the left-wing…

  2. Typewriter King:

    Failing these mandatory cultural classes is something of a badge of honor for me.

    I’ll never graduate, but hey, one’s integrity should be more important.

  3. praktike:

    STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

    What children are taught in America, for the first time EVAR in HISTORY, is becoming politicized!!!!!!

    Report at 11!

  4. mark:

    Hey prak

    This isn’t quite the same thing as a single classroom politicized by an errant teacher or school board or even the Christian wingnut idiocy going on in Kansas. The latter is closest in spirit but these things are local and reversible.

    What is proposed here is to systemically screen out prospective teachers ( as if we have a surplus of highly qualified talent to blow) on a national basis who are not in tune with au courant academic leftism.

    I know the system intimately here from long experience – this isn’t a toothless slogan but a policy that will have concrete objectives for which universities and student-teachers will be held accountable – as in they will not graduate unless they offere proof of compliance. It will take 3-7 years to fully phase this in but it will happen unless it is checked.

    Good teachers do not approach the classroom with the intent to indoctrinate rather than educate. With children – as opposed to college students who are adults – that stance is a reprehensible abuse of their position of trust and authority, regardless of whether the indoctrination is Evangelical or Marxist.

  5. jon:

    billing coding medical school surfing tonight I saw your blog. I liked it and wondered how you did that? Anyway, its a cool billing coding medical school site…

    Jon

  6. Anonymous:

    Wow this must be a good topic. I came across a blog pretty similar to yours earlier today. I also have one that pretty much talks about legit work from home related stuff. You should check it out sometime.