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As school starts this week, students will be getting back to their studies.
But not all of the schools have to meet the same standards.
This is at the heart of an argument that was taken to Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday after state Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne was sued by five charter schools that hope to maintain their freedom in teaching social studies courses.
The schools want to continue teaching U.S. history in the ninth grade instead of following state standards that say the material should be taught in the eighth and fifth grades, as well as other grades.
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The state Department of Education, under Horne’s direction, wants all schools, including charter schools, which receive state funding, to align their curriculum.
The charter schools argue this curtails the freedom they have right now to decide when to teach subjects. One of the schools, for example, teaches classical and medieval history in middle school.
The question that is truly at the heart of this issue is if public and charter schools should have to meet the same standards. We believe they should, especially since all are receiving public funding.
Some charter schools may be teaching this, but would have to move staff and curriculum to meet the state standards, which is part of the reason why this rule is being challenged.
This, however, doesn’t stop teachers from having the freedom of how they should teach the subject, and it doesn’t stop schools from putting additional information into curriculum. It just says that everyone should meet the same standard.
RLL wrote on Aug 7, 2007 9:18 AM: