Students in Fairbanks will soon be exposed to radical sexual ideologies in English and social studies classes if proposed curriculum changes are approved by the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board this spring.
The school district is revising its 7-12 grade English/Language Arts and K-12 grade social studies curriculum. The initial draft is online after a curriculum committee finished its first round of work in October. According to the school district’s website, the high school curriculum would add “LGBTQ+ Literature” for 11-12th grade students to “encourage the exploration of diverse voices in America.”
“The intention is to provide learners with an opportunity to move beyond what is considered the classic American canon,” the website states.
The elective class would fulfill part of the English requirements for graduation.
According to the draft proposal, the course combines a survey of LGBTQ+ prose, poetry and drama to be used for “examining culture and improving writing skills.” Students would read from a selection of several dozen gay and lesbian authors. Proposed readings include highly controversial novels and poems that have been criticized for sexual explicitness, explicit language, sexual violence and scenes of homosexual sex.
A second class for 10-11th grade students would fulfill a social studies requirement. This one semester course includes an option that familiarizes students with the “civil rights experiences” of those in the LGBTQ political movement. The course description attempts to frame the LGBTQ agenda in terms of the historic civil rights struggles of African Americans, women, indigenous people and others.
According to a description of the course, it will help students “identify various national and world perspectives of groups pertaining to the struggle for civil rights.” It then lists two examples side-by-side: the exclusion of African Americans from the women’s liberation movement and the conflict between the religious based Conservative Coalition and the LGBTQ community.
Further revisions are expected before the proposed curriculum goes before the Fairbanks School Board for a vote. Public comment has closed on the first draft, but feedback is being accepted throughout the process.
A select group of curriculum writers will continue to revise the proposed courses during the 2019-2020 school year with the school board expected to vote on the plan in the spring of 2020. Drafts of each revision will be posted on the school district’s website as they become available, and can be viewed here.
Those who wish to submit comments can do so at any time by contacting Jen Morgan, from the Department of Teaching and Learning at jennifer.morgan@k12northstar.org or (907) 452-2000.
Others assisting with the proposed changes include Kristina Roehrig, curriculum coordinator for secondary schools. She can be reached at kristina.roehrig@k12northstar.org or (907) 452-2000, x11477. Additionally, Jennifer Morgan is the materials development specialist and she can be reached at jennifer.morgan@k12northstar.org or (907) 452-2000, x11421.
Click here to contact members of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board.
