LETTER: Dumbing down high school graduation
In his Feb. 24 letter on the proposal to eliminate the civics exam requirement for high school graduation, Michael O. Kreps writes that, “Civics is basic to what a child should learn about how our country operates at the national, state and local levels.” But it is even worse than eliminating the exam under Senate Bill 2. Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelord has proposed Assembly Bill 19, which would substitute the teaching of “government” with “multicultural diversity.”
Considering how many immigrant students we have in our schools, the teaching of “government” becomes even more critical if they are to become informed voters and participants in our government and community. It is bad enough that students raised in our republic do not understand the workings of our government. Now Ms. Bilbray-Axelrol wants to compound that problem by making all students uninformed. I wonder what her father, a long-time congressman, would say if he were alive.
So “no” to AB19 and SB2. And, at the same time, no on making our election laws more liberal. They need to be more strict.