At the October meeting of the NC State School Board, the topic of APUSH came up. For those unfamiliar, APUSH stands for Advanced Placement U.S. History. It looks like we’re going to get a debate on the topic. Keep reading, I’ll explain further down.

Recently the College Board has made controversial revisions to the APUSH framework, taking it from a five-page document to a 95 page document. The changes are alarming, so much so that a national conference call was put together on August 4, 2014. Audio of the call is available via Georgia Stop Common Core.  More articles on APUSH can be found at StopCommonCoreNC.org and on my blog.

Important Reads
NC Superintendent on #APUSH
NC Board Of Ed Plans To Stick With #APUSH

Critics of the new APUSH framework contend that it undermines the current teaching of U.S. History and with regards to North Carolina, does not align with the current law and requirements known as the Founding Principles Act (HB 588).

Video of this discussion on APUSH can be seen here. Fast forward to around the 1:37:30 mark.

I have a few comments on the video:

• There was some back and forth about making the Founding Principles whole by requiring a basic U.S. History course. This option left APUSH as it stands in the mix.
• Another suggestion was that we write our own AP course for history.
• At around the 1:47:30 mark, Dr. Atkinson seemingly defends the use of APUSH as written and stated, ‘The AP is a copyrighted course’.  I find this statement interesting, because both she and Chairman Cobey have brushed off the fact the Common Core standards are also copyrighted. In fact, Chairman Cobey said to me after the first Academic Standards Review Commission meeting that he thought the copyright concerns over Common Core were a “red herring”. Does Chairman Cobey think leaving our state vulnerable to a lawsuit is also a “red herring”?
• Ms. Savage made the point that everyone there took an oath to our state and its children and that this board answers to them. Then she asked the pointed question, “Who does the AP answer to?”
• Lt. Governor Forest joined by conference call. He asked outright that it be investigated what the changes that were made are and how they compare to what we have now. Lt. Governor Forest also suggested that a debate or discussion panel be held. Chairman Cobey responded they already have invited someone from the College board to speak. Lt. Governor Forest responded that experts from both sides of the issue to come and speak to the board.
• Ms. Oxendine suggested Larry Krieger be invited to debate the College Board individual.
• Mr. Ford chimed in and said that Ted Dickerson should be invited too.  If that happens, a second opposition person should be invited, as Ted Dickerson helped write the new framework.  I would suggest Ken Mercer (Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) member) or Jane Robbins (Attorney and a senior fellow with the American Principles Project in Washington, D.C.).

Useful and Related Items

The agenda from the State Board of Education meeting are located here.

To see the supporting documents, scroll down and expand section III. A. 2. b. GCS 4 -Graduation Requirement Updates – American History: The Founding Principles.

The description  under Section III reads as follows:

Session Law 2011-273 requires all students to take American History I:  The Founding Principles for graduation from high school.  These amendments provide alignment between this statute and State Board of Education policies and include needed updates to clarify graduation requirements for students entering ninth grade for the first time in 2014-15.

Recommendation
It is recommended that the State Board of Education review and discuss the proposed amendments to policies GCS-N-004 and GCS-L-008.