Is the Delisle board (which appeased Governor Strickland’s attacks by eliminating Superintendent Zelman) exempt from criticism?

Sandra Stotsky (The Stealth Curriculum: Manipulating America’s History Teachers) claims that FHAO (Facing History) materials use “the Holocaust to portray America’s blacks as Europe’s Jews, thereby reducing genocide to an act of bigotry and equating white Americans to Nazis.” (She also dismisses competing claims of “Muslims in the New World Before Columbus.”)

But Ohio preferred for Gary Nash to vet history standards developed as part of Governor Strickland’s reforms. Here’s the result:

16. Oppression and discrimination resulted in the Armenian Genocide during World War I and the Holocaust, the state-sponsored mass murder of Jews and other groups, during World War II. [Elaboration: When the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, it capitalized on long-standing anti-Semitic feelings to institutionalize discrimination against Jews (e.g., Nuremberg Laws). The government's Final Solution resulted in the mass murder of Jews. Other groups of people (e.g., Gypsies, Slavs, disabled) also were murdered as part of the Holocaust.]

17. World War II devastated most of Europe and Asia, led to the occupation of Eastern Europe and Japan, and began the atomic age. [Elaboration: World War II caused not only physical damage, but also social damage (e.g., refugees, casualties), cultural damage (e.g., lost works of art, residue of Nazi education), and economic damage (e.g., loss of infrastructure, loss of employment). ...]

Those are the key lessons of WWII for Ohio’s Modern World History students.

From my inbox:

Rep. Gerberry Seeks Changes to Voting Membership of State Board of Education
HB 58 creates electoral boundaries that coincide with congressional districts

COLUMBUS – State Representative Ronald V. Gerberry (D-Austintown) has introduced legislation that will change the voting membership of the State Board of Education to consist of a member from each of Ohio’s Congressional districts.

“I believe it is in the best interest of public education that the State Board of Education return to an elected board with districts small enough that constituents know who their board member is,” stated Rep. Gerberry.

Currently, the State Board of Education is made up of 19 members, 11 of whom are elected and 8 of whom are appointed by the Governor. The chairs of the education committees of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate serve as non-voting ex officio members, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction serves as secretary of the Board.

“If there is an even number of such electoral districts, the Governor shall appoint an additional member to serve as president of the Board” said Rep. Gerberry. “This member would vote on board matters in the event of a tie among other members of the Board. If there are an odd number of districts, the Governor shall not appoint a president, and members of the Board will elect a president among the voting members elected from one of the congressional districts.”

HB 58 has been assigned to the House committee on Education for further consideration.