March 29, 2006
ALL THAT TIME WASTED ON MATH & READING...:
Cleveland schools struggle with 'No Child' law's rules (Ellen Jan Kleinerman, March 29, 2006, Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Test scores in math and reading rose under the No Child Left Behind law in Cleveland and in districts nationwide, according to a new study, but there was a price.About 70 percent of the 299 districts in the survey cut back on instruction in at least one other subject to make more time for reading and math - the two areas monitored under the law, said Jack Jennings, CEO of the Center for Education Policy, a Washington, D.C., research group.
...when we could be teaching them to macrame condoms.... Posted by Orrin Judd at March 29, 2006 9:28 AM
"That's not a bug, that's a feature!"
Posted by: Timothy at March 29, 2006 1:15 PMWe need a "No Teacher Left Behind" program, it seems. When I was in grade school in the 50's, teachers taught the three R's first. All that social junk was after school and voluntary. And they didn't talk about "safe sex", condoms, or what to do when your friend OD's.
Posted by: Michael at March 29, 2006 3:38 PMMichael, in the 50's not even doctors or pharmacists could talk about condoms.
Posted by: erp at March 29, 2006 5:51 PMin the 50's not even doctors or pharmacists could talk about condoms.
Prove it. I think you just made that up for some offbeat dramatic effect. Show me some proof that your claim is remotely true. I think it is phony. Prove me wrong.
My Google search quickly found this, which I think is related:
The 1960s saw the beginning of the current wave of controversy over sex ed in U.S. schools. But as early as 1912, the National Education Association called for teacher training programs in sexuality education.In 1940, the U.S. Public Health Service strongly advocated sexuality education in the schools, labeling it an "urgent need." In 1953, the American School Health Association launched a nationwide program in family life education. Two years later, the American Medical Association, in conjunction with the NEA, published five pamphlets that were commonly referred to as "the sex education series" for schools.
Source: The History of Sexuality Education
There are tons more references. I know that people were taught about condoms - primarily for prevention of Syphilis and Gonorrhea. The military, as usual, led the way with their training efforts due to large infection rates.
Posted by: Michael at March 29, 2006 9:55 PMMichael, Your outburst is unseemly. Why on earth would I lie for effect about something so easily checked, and for the proof you requested, here's a self-referential anecdote:
In 1952 I was a freshman at Queens College, part of the City College system in New York City. Admission was strictly on academic merit and I was in the top 9% of even this academically gifted population. I say this only to impress you with my impressive intellect and high IQ lest you think less of me.
A required course was Hygiene. Yes, that's what it was called and it was women only. In that class, a student asked about birth control and condoms. The teacher almost fainted and said that by law that subject could not be discussed. This is a first person account by me.
Note: The famous Supreme Court case, Griswold v. Connecticut, which dealt with the subject of contraception wasn't decided until 1965 by which time my third child was one and was 30 years old.
Your citations don't prove my statement wrong. There were people agitating for repeal of these archaic laws, but that doesn't change the fact that the laws did exist in the fifties.
Like the rest of bros on this blog, I'm only to glad to do mia culpas and correct mistakes.