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BOOK UPSETS RESIDENTS

Some Stafford County residents criticize AP history textbook

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

Date published: 3/18/2009

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

Many Stafford County high school students have read the unconventional "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn without opposition from conservatives.

Until now.

Several people want the book removed from a North Stafford High School advanced-placement history class, even though it's not the primary textbook.

At a recent Stafford School Board meeting, eight speakers claimed Zinn's book was un-American, leftist propaganda. Some said students aren't mature enough to form their own opinions of the book.

They also cited pundits on the right and left who have criticized it.

Opponents of the textbook have yet to submit a formal challenge, said Stafford school spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim. Those who publicly complained are not parents of the juniors and seniors taking the AP class, she said.

"The principal has said that none of the parents or students have come forward with any complaints," Cottongim said.

School Board members John LeDoux, Nanette Kidby and Dana Reinboldt requested copies of the book to review but did not comment further on the matter.

Stafford parents have filed complaints in the past against two books: "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, and "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The school system still uses the books, Cottongim said.

Zinn's more than 600-page book was published in 1980 and has sold more than a million copies.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, keeps track of challenged textbooks. Often, she said, parents don't object to books for advanced readers--including Zinn's.

"This is not one of those books that comes under scrutiny very often," she said.

Zinn's book "presents American history through the eyes of those he feels are outside of the political and economic establishment," according to howardzinn.org.

Stafford resident Meg Jaworowski, however, said the book's writings "defile our great nation and capitalist free-market system."

Students, she said, know little about historical facts, such as Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. "I could go on and on but with such a pathetic grasp of historical facts, high school history, to include AP history, needs to be about the business of educating and not indoctrinating," she said in a statement distributed to the School Board.

Her husband, Mark, also spoke against the book.

STAFFORD COUNTY HAS A PROCESS THAT ALLOWS PARENTS OR OTHERS TO QUESTION THE APPROPRIATENESS OF TEXTBOOKS. A person fills out a complaint form. The principal makes a recommendation about the complaint and submits it to the assistant superintendent for instruction. If the person who filed the complaint does not accept the principal's findings, the assistant superintendent forms a committee to review the book. The committee, which includes school officials and parents, prepares a recommendation for the superintendent. The superintendent reviews the reports and renders a decision in writing. The School Board has the final say if the superintendent's decision is appealed. --staffordschools.net

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Date published: 3/18/2009