Re 9: Teacher says NO to less biased curriculum...

From: C123S105L@aol.com
Date: Fri Sep 24 1999 - 11:27:18 EDT


We thank you very much for a very informative and inspiring letter. There is no
question that we need this kind of intellectual support in battles such as this
which we know we are fighting pretty much alone at this local level. The
information provided regarding school activists is very valuable and we will
contact them. Yesterday the school guiadance counselor called me and told me
that ''I had to understand that Mr.C (teacher) had been teaching for 30
something years and that NOT ONE parent had ever complained about a biased
curriculum and I had to understand why he was being a bit defensive'' and I
became a bit annoyed and told him the one remark my husband always uses to ''get
us going'' and that is ''Why is is, that boys are handed down the BIRTH RIGHT to
walk in a classroom, sit down and be perfectly happy listening to the great
things men have achieved hour after hour and girls have to sit there as
spectators the message clear that they and their gender really do not exist''

And it is not perfectly ironic that we have to GO AND FIGHT for something that
boys take absolutely for granted !!!!!! And so the lines of argument become more
profoundly philosophical and as they do so do we except that our philosophying
turns to anger where perhaps it should be. Responding
to your questions in 3 years we have been with this issue off and on we have
NEVER received any support from any other parent. On the very contrary. Yes,
there are other teachers who our daughter had in the 6th grade that were very
sympathetic. One of them an older teacher(social studies) used to be very
involved in the AAUW and she was great. I have thought about calling her to
elicit some support but I feel a bit afraid. If It gets very complicated we will
explore some legal channels including ACLU as you suggested but we think the
school will have to come around...what we are wondering is if perhaps they will
suggest our daughter goes to another class and we have wondered if perhaps after
expossing this issue a bit more if we are no making any progress we should not
be the ones asking that she is put into another class with a teacher more open
to this?

Can you or anyone offer an opinion on this?

Thank you so much again,
Lesemann
C123S105L@aol.com



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