It is unlikely that Senators who might have taken issue with these attacks have made themselves familiar with the actual contents of the standards books. Further Senate debate on this issue is likely to come. And certainly we will be hearing from the House. Lynne Cheney will testify, and certainly the history standards will be under discussion. Our role was to assist financially in the nonpartisan process of developing some of those guidelines for further public discussion, review, and ultimately decision by state and local school authorities.
School reform is much too important to be made a hostage in the culture wars.
Remarks made by Sen. Gorton and others reflect a general line of attack taken by Mrs. Cheney, John Fonte, and other critics. These fictitious 'standards from hell' are made up of immense lists of names and terms that kids are supposed to memorize. The pragmatic veteran school teachers from around the country who wrote the history standards would find this fabrication comical if some respectable reporters and politicians were not taking it so seriously. Compare the depiction of values to those expressed in shows like Ozzie and Harriet, The Honeymooners. . . . Albert Einstein . . . not mentioned.