Wisconsin Educators Seek To Indoctrinate

I found this piece by Ari Kaufman in Front Page Magazine:

The day before Thanksgiving, third-grade students at the Frank Allis Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, were given a curious lesson in civic responsibility. They were told to write letters to their congressman and various media outlets calling for an end to the war in Iraq.

Parents were sent a letter justifying this political indoctrination as a social studies lesson. “The Frank Allis third grade will be writing letters to encourage an end to the war in Iraq,” the letter explained. “The letter writing will teach civic responsibility, a social studies standard, while providing an authentic opportunity to improve composition skills and handwriting.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20506

As might be expected, there were those in Wisconsin that took offense that a public school would attempt to indoctrinate 8 and 9-year-olds into the left-wing anti-war movement, and the assignment was eventually dropped.

But to me this story represents the arrogance in public education. A bachelor's degree and a master's in education are admirable accomplishments, but they do not not instill depth, wisdom, or even common sense in an individual... nor do they equip a teacher with some weighty insight into current events or superior judgement into the proper attitudes to hold concerning those issues. An educator should teach, not indoctrinate, and there are many that manage to stimulate thought and teach a subject without interjecting their own political biases.

The story goes on to say that Congressman Mark Green, R-WI, wrote to the school and suggested that the young students could hone their writing skills and be taught civic responsibility by writing to our soldiers and thanking them for their service... but so far this suggestion has not elicited a reply.