0 Ilion

Editorials are posted and archived on JN Online:

www.detroitjewishnews.com

Dry Bones

A Misguided Course

lip

arents concerned about recent curriculum
changes in the Farmington Public Schools
have a valid point. The parents, many of
whom are Jewish, say a flawed process
produced a flawed product, and have asked the
school board to adopt new procedures and review
recent decisions.
Concern intensified with a new International Affairs
curriculum planned for the district's three high schools.
As presented, the curriculum takes a hard look at the
United States, Israel and the West, but doesn't include
a deep examination of the roles and actions of other
Mideast players. Against this backdrop, the school
board was wrong in not delaying the changes until
they underwent scrutiny by experts in the
field of international affairs and, more
importantly, by the people who pay the bills:
the taxpayers.
On June 17, school trustees rushed to adopt a
flawed and unbalanced International Affairs curricu-
lum. It will begin this fall and, by fall 2005, be one of
several elective courses that will satisfy a new 12th-
grade Global Issues requirement.
In a related move last year, trustees rolled the 12th-
grade
rade American Government course into the ninth-
grade curriculum. That rollback also was poorly com-
municated, say parents, who fear that democracy and
pluralism won't get the right emphasis after the ninth
grade.
Parents overreached in trying to generalize about the
level of intellectual sophistication of Farmington's high
school students. But they made a strong case that parts
of the International Affairs curriculum, when first
brought before trustees, read like an ideological docu-
ment instead of a sound and balanced educational
resource.
For example, the original benchmarks in the curricu-
lum's sections on warfare and terrorism — before par-
ents intervened — urged students to understand that
war and terrorism spring from feeling "alienated from

or discriminated [against] by those in power" or
because people feel "disenfranchised." Missing
was any discussion of secular or religion-based
ideologies like totalitarianism, fascism, pan-
Arabism, racism or jihad (Islamic holy war).
Compounding the problem, all the Internet
sites listed in these sections were from marginal
groups focused on challenging American society
and foreign policy from the left of the political
spectrum. Government, think tank, centrist and
right-leaning sites were not included.
The International Affairs curriculum section
on "Religious and Ethnic Conflict" applied the
same tilted political analysis in focusing on
-
Israel. This section's central exercise
was for students to "conduct an inves-
tigation on Jewish settlements in the
Middle East" and "research the civic
activism of the Jewish diaspora" relating to the
Middle East.
Web and written resources, moreover, did not
embrace the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee or any Jewish group involved in
civic activism. Various Web sites listed in other
sections of the curriculum had an openly anti-
American and anti-Israel bent. Not highlighted
were issues of Arab or Muslim intolerance of
Jews or of incitement or terror against Israel.
Concerns about process, product and implementa-
tion should trouble trustees as much as they trouble
parents. Students should be able to grapple with a vari-
ety of ideas and then draw conclusions about
American policies. But when the learning materials for
a new curriculum lean toward a particular political per-
spective, and the latitude that classroom teachers will
have is unclear, we frankly are leery.
It took parental intervention before trustees
addressed selected ideological shortcomings the week
before their June 17 vote and before they made further
improvements later.
Only three of the seven trustees heeded the clear
parental request to slow down. What's the rush? The

EDIT ORIEL

Related coverage: page 14

ON -PE ofvleR
HANDS B E CAUSE
IGNORANCE
IS BUSS,,,

VT SEEMS

FRESH AND
NEU - O
!

Global Issues requirement will take effect for the class
of 2006 and beyond. If ever a curriculum cried out for
ultra-sensitivity, International Affairs is it.
We have no doubt that a process to bring together
educators and parents to discuss this or any curriculum
would bring understanding, compromise and coopera-
tion. We urge the Farmington school board to commit
the International Affairs curriculum to critical analysis
and monitoring.
The hope should be parents, teachers and adminis-
trators alike are equally confident that the curriculum
resonates as a beacon for learning in the ethnically
diverse district and, in Superintendent C. Robert
Maxfield's words, "an increasingly interdependent
world."

❑

Rainy Day Vigilance

T

he national economic tailspin shook
Detroit Jewry's top funding and service
agency. But the resulting cost controls
should serve us well.
Frankly, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit should have kept a tighter lid on unrestricted
reserves and not dipped so deeply into
principal to support community needs.
Stricter access to these reserves during the
good times would have meant more avail-
ability now. That might have saved some of the 70
communal jobs lost when Federation had to adjust
Annual Campaign allocations to make up for a $6.2
million shortfall in revenue in the General Fund for
the fiscal year beginning June 1.
Federation badly misjudged the impact of drawing
10 percent of unrestricted reserves each year to enrich

programs and services when investments weren't yield-
ing the same percentage.
We're still reaping the benefits of that enrichment,
however, so the money went to worthy causes. But it is
disconcerting that reserves tumbled $50 million over
five years to $20 million today, though part of the
drop-off was due to investment losses. At most,
just $6 million is left for rainy days based on an
unrestricted reserve floor of $14 million.
Federation did show foresight in creating the
Detroit Legacy Fund. This restricted endowment will
be built from planned giving. The target is a fund floor
of $50 million to allow the interest earned to help the
community confront rainy days.
The board and officers of Federation are entrusted
with immense power over how our Campaign contri-
butions are spent. They wisely are returning to the fis-
cal culture of 20 years ago: living off the Campaign
and holding rainy day dollars for emergencies.

EDITOR IAL

Related coverage: page 16

With the economy so volatile after the go-go 1990s,
Federation eyes this change amid staff and agency lay-
offs, domestic pullbacks, less overseas support and
other reductions generally ranging from 4 to 11 per-
cent, based on priorities. The worst after-effect is the
emotional toll on laid-off workers.
It must remain a lifeline, but Federation no longer
can be everything to everyone. Self-discipline must res-
onate. Givers big and small must hold it accountable.
Partner agencies must work together more.
The 2003 Campaign raised $34.5 million in pledges
for local, national and overseas Jewish needs and Israel's
security. Growth shouldn't stop. We still face pressing
needs and exciting opportunities.
Federation acknowledged being overzealous and did-
n't hesitate to cut spending. And there was no agency
infighting over the smaller allocation pot. We hope this
unity of purpose spurs us to being smarter in how we
as a community treat unrestricted reserves. E

7/18

2003

27

