Well, I Know You Got A Bad Education - And It Isn't Just Talk, Talk, Talk

Interesting news in the ongoing war against education:

After a tumultuous week of community debate and heavy news media coverage, the Upper St. Clair school board voted last night to eliminate the district's International Baccalaureate program before an angry and vocal crowd of about 1,000 people.

The vote came after more than three hours of debate and impassioned pleas from parents and students to save the program, which is used is used at 1,722 schools in 122 countries.

Founded in 1968, the program aims to give students a world perspective and develop critical thinking skills. About 700 students participate in it. Schenley High School and Vincentian Academy in McCandless also use the curriculum.

Dr. Daniel Iracki, a leader of the faction that voted against the program, said he was elected as part of a slate of candidates who promised to reduce district expenditures. "We promised to be fiscally responsible," Dr. Iracki said.

The Upper St. Clair School District, with 4,100 students in six schools, has a budget for this school year of $50 million. The program costs the district approximately $80,000.

Dr. Iracki and other newly elected members of the board expressed opposition to the program on the grounds that it is Marxist, anti-Christian, un-American and too costly.

Mr. Bluey said...that he saw very little data that supported keeping the program. He noted that 85 to 90 percent of the students in the district do not participate in it.

Many of the parents who mobilized in recent weeks to save the program say IB is the reason their families moved in the district in the first place. They note that President Bush has publicly commended the program.

Here's where things get really interesting:

Here's how Upper Saint Clair School Board member Daniel Iracki explained his opposition to the International Baccalaureate program at this week's school board meeting: "No convincing factual evidence has been presented that IB is a superior education to proven and existing programs, such as AP."After that -- and despite opposition from hundreds of parents and students -- the board voted to kill the program.

But at last week's lightly attended committee meeting, Iracki was telling a different story."The impetus for this in-depth look at the IB program occurred with the election of a new school board in November 2005, when my candidacy and the three other members of our slate were opposed by IB students principally because of my statement at the candidates forum that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values and we have to be careful about what kind of values our children are being taught," Iracki said.

Team 4 has learned that school officials ordered that the cable television broadcast of this week's board meeting to stop when the parents started criticizing the board. The cable access channel usually airs the full meeting.School Board President William Sulkowski told Van Osdol by phone that, "As president, I can start the filming when I feel it's necessary and stop it when I feel it's not."

Even if you feel that this program is "Anti-Christian" (whatever that means, since we have no context for Iraki's beliefs) is this really the best way to go about changing things?


(links courtesy of oliver willis)