Letter: Discretion Is Advised

By David Anderson

“Pedophilia, incest and graphic sex,” is on all Washington public schools’ recommended reading list for 11th graders this September.

Is your child entering 11th grade in September – anywhere in any of Washington’s public schools or those of any of 45 other states that have adopted the Common Core curriculum?

Be sure to ask your 11^th grader’s English teacher what books they are to be reading this year.

“The Bluest Eye” by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison concerns “pedophilia, incest and graphic sex” according to Mike Opelka’s August 22 column in “The Blaze.”

“Macey France, a writer for the online site ‘Politichicks,’ actually combed the entire text of ‘The Bluest Eye’ and catalogued some of the more offensive and questionable parts,” writes Opelka, excerpts – which France calls “approved child pornography” – that can be read here.

“The Bluest Eye” is listed on the Common Core curriculum as an exemplar – “one that is worthy of imitation; a model” for 16-17 year olds.

Washington is one of 46 states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards.

Debbie Cafazzo reported in the Tacoma News Tribune this past June 20 that “the K-12 learning standards in math and English language arts will be fully implemented in Washington public schools at every grade level in the 2013-14 school year.”

That Washington is on board with Common Core means that on the recommended reading is “The Bluest Eye.”

Innocuous enough, Common Core’s introduction reads as follows: “The following text samples primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with.”

Like Opelka and France, Common Core then provides its own text sample from “The Bluest Eye” and you can read what the Common Core folks excerpted in “Appendix B” by clicking here and scrolling to page 152.

However, unlike the malignant and graphic descriptions of intercourse with children  as found in “The Bluest Eye,” Common Core’s chosen passage is, in contrast, most certainly benign.

But – and it’s a big ‘but’ – what parents are led to believe “The Bluest Eye” contains by way of content per Common Core’s description on their page 152 is in stark-naked contrast – literally – when compared to what is most rotten to the core on page 162 of the book itself.

Surely gives new meaning to one of Common Core’s objectives, to “teach English language vocabulary explicitly.”

Fortunately, according to Ready Washington – this state’s Common Core coalition – “local control of curriculum for Washington’s 295 schools districts and more than 2,000 individual schools,” still belongs to each school and district.

And, in their FAQ section, in answer to “Can I talk to my child’s teacher about Common Core?” the answer is yes.  There, according to Common Core, you can “help create a learning plan for (your child) to succeed.”

Good idea.

Especially since Ready Washington declares the Common Core mission is to “raise the bar for learning.”