School Curriculum

Kudos to the National Science Foundation and the states of Maryland and Delaware for adopting a curriculum to teach the science of global warming and climate change ("A grant to help teach climate change," Aug. 16). We need to address this issue before we witness parts of the Inner Harbor and the Eastern Shore go underwater. Some may dispute the approach, but there's no dispute among the scientific community about whether climate change represents an existential threat to the planet unless humans take drastic steps to reverse the trend.

A couple of years ago at Slate , Farhad Manjoo posted a little rant about people who insist on typing two spaces after a period, even though in our age of computerized proportional type it is not only unnecessary but contraindicated. The article proved to be so successful at what H.L. Mencken liked to call "stirring up the animals" that Slate republished it last month . The recent results were equally gratifying. Though somewhat more literate than the "your a moron" comments one commonly encounters on the Internet, the responses nicely match intemperance with ignorance.

In reporter Annie Linskey 's analysis of an opposition ad against Question 6 ("Claim about marriage referendum is disputed," Oct. 30), she concludes that consequences are not part of the decision to vote on a referendum, but part of a "broader narrative. " Her statement ignores the consequences demonstrated by the ad she criticizes were the result of a federal judge's decision permitting inclusion of same-sex marriage in the curriculum after same-sex marriage was approved in another state.

In reporter Annie Linskey 's analysis of an opposition ad against Question 6 ("Claim about marriage referendum is disputed," Oct. 30), she concludes that consequences are not part of the decision to vote on a referendum, but part of a "broader narrative. " Her statement ignores the consequences demonstrated by the ad she criticizes were the result of a federal judge's decision permitting inclusion of same-sex marriage in the curriculum after same-sex marriage was approved in another state.

House rejects bill to add potato famine to school curriculumA bill that would have made the Irish potato famine a required part of Maryland's public school curriculum died in a House committee yesterday as delegates shied away from telling educators what to teach.The Ways and Means Committee rejected the measure after state school Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said she would work with Irish-American groups to develop a curriculum on the famine.The bill, sponsored by Sen. Perry Sfikas, a Baltimore Democrat, had passed in the Senate.

The Baltimore school board set the stage last night for a shift in the city schools' curriculum toward a greater emphasis on African and African-American history and culture.The move adds Baltimore to a list of school systems that are de-emphasizing what critics call the schools' current "Eurocentric" curriculum -- a de-emphasis that has gone smoothly in some cities and generated considerable controversy in others.Proponents argue that such changes in the curriculum give black students more involvement with their studies, and that they help all students understand different cultures.

The Baltimore public school system is planning to spend more than $76 million in city and state funds on capital improvements under a program presented to the school board last night.The proposal, due to be voted on next week, contains money for asbestos removal and improvements to existing schools, including roofing work.It calls for about $6 million each year in local funds, an increase of about $2 million each year in city spending on capital improvements in the schools.That increase will let the Education Department obtain an additional $16 million in state matching funds over the five-year period, according to Patsy B. Blackshear, an associate superintendent of schools.

It's unfortunate that Baltimore's latest experiment in multicultural education is being launched just as a similar program in neighboring Washington, D.C., has come under fire for lacking intellectual integrity. School board members there were outraged recently to discover that the consultant hired to develop the city's "Afrocentric" program had misled officials about her credentials and methods.Baltimore has managed to avoid such controversy for the most part. Its multicultural program was designed as an integral part of a much larger overhaul of the school curriculum, and the increased attention given to the contributions of minorities grew out of recommendations developed by a carefully selected task force of scholars, school administrators and community leaders.

Some speakers at a public hearing last night warned against watering down a plan intended to include aspects of African and black American history and culture in the Baltimore school curriculum."

The case for Question 6, which would affirm Maryland's law authorizing same-sex marriage, is simple. It affirms the principle that the law should treat everyone the same. Marriage is both a religious and a civil institution. Churches, synagogues and mosques have always set their own rules about which marriages they recognize, and this law does not change that fact. What it does is to ensure that no Marylander faces discrimination under the law when it comes to one of the state's fundamental institutions.

Opponents of Question 6 are airing a television commercial that claims same-sex marriage could be "taught in schools" if the law is upheld in the November election. What the ad says: The commercial features David and Tonia Parker, a Massachusetts couple who sued the school board when their son brought home a book that discussed gay married couples. A federal judge tossed out the lawsuit, saying schools are "entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens.

The case for Question 6, which would affirm Maryland's law authorizing same-sex marriage, is simple. It affirms the principle that the law should treat everyone the same. Marriage is both a religious and a civil institution. Churches, synagogues and mosques have always set their own rules about which marriages they recognize, and this law does not change that fact. What it does is to ensure that no Marylander faces discrimination under the law when it comes to one of the state's fundamental institutions.

Kudos to the National Science Foundation and the states of Maryland and Delaware for adopting a curriculum to teach the science of global warming and climate change ("A grant to help teach climate change," Aug. 16). We need to address this issue before we witness parts of the Inner Harbor and the Eastern Shore go underwater. Some may dispute the approach, but there's no dispute among the scientific community about whether climate change represents an existential threat to the planet unless humans take drastic steps to reverse the trend.

The Baltimore City Council's education committee assembled school officials, the health commissioner and fitness advocates on Thursday to discuss a trend emerging in city schools: While students are meeting state standards in their physical education requirements, they're also getting fatter. During a committee hearing at City Hall, city and school leaders explored ways that the school system could strengthen its current standards of physical activity and health instruction to combat the growing trend of childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, which half of the city's students born after the year 2000 are at risk for. "This is so important in the lives of our children, who are dying before their parents," said City Councilwoman Agnes Welch, a longtime advocate of combating childhood obesity.

Comptroller Peter Franchot has been going back to high school as part of his push for requiring that seniors take a course in financial literacy in order to graduate. The proposal for a graduation requirement has met with resistance from lawmakers and educators who are wary of imposing curriculum mandates, but Franchot said the recent recession has convinced him that basic personal finance concepts must be taught. Franchot, the state's chief tax collector, has visited seven high schools since the school year began and plans to push for legislation during the General Assembly session that begins in January.

That's not schooling As a former teacher in both public and private schools and, presently, as an advisory teacher for a well-known home schooling program, I was dismayed by the article, "Where whatever children do is schooling" (Sept. 3). I disagree that children can guide their own learning without some type of structure or curriculum. Most parents, I believe, would find teaching their children in this manner incredibly challenging, to say the least. No one can argue that reading to children isn't enormously beneficial, but only a few children will learn to read just from this method, nor will they necessarily learn to read or do math via video games.

The articles in The Sunday Sun by Gary Gately and Mike Bowler on lessons learned from the use of the Calvert School curriculum at two city public schools give plenty of food for thought.Here is a curriculum, initially intended for home study and for use by the private North Baltimore school, which demonstrably achieves results.Or, as Sam Stringfield, a Johns Hopkins researcher, recently concluded in an evaluation: "A striking feature of Calvert School is the universally high level of confidence that Calvert students can excel academically.

School arrived recently at the Knickman family home in Jarrettsville in a white cardboard box sent from a warehouse in Northwest Baltimore. The familiar carton with the silhouette logo has been sent to Edward and Carol Knickman every summer since they started home-schooling their daughter, Clare, 13, and son, Thomas, 11, seven years ago. Calvert School Education Services, the nonprofit home instruction division of the Calvert School in North Baltimore, has...

Responding to complaints from about 40 parents, the Harford County schools superintendent has decided to remove a book from the high school curriculum, saying its message on the dangers of bullying is overshadowed by instances of vulgar language including homophobic slurs. In a memo on the county school system's Web site, Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas said she will announce to the school board tonight that the novel The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier will not be permitted in a social studies curriculum for county ninth-graders.