Federal Funds Teaching Oklahoma Kids About "Old Dead White Men"

[Conan71]

Your tax dollars at work lowering the bar:

-- Some Oklahoma City teachers said their latest teaching tools are inappropriate and offensive.

It's a program called Flocabulary, and a small group of teachers is calling the content into question. However, it's not just the content that is in question, but how funds were approved and spent.

In Oklahoma City, the program is used for at-risk students.The alternative students can be anyone from a hospitalized student to a student in juvenile detention. It serves students in alternative educations from grades 3 to 12.

The idea behind Flocabulary is using hip hop and rap music to help students learn facts. The method is something educators agree on, but there are concerns about how the material is written. The idea of a program that will grab the attention of students is positive.

"Kids learn differently. One thing we definitely want to do as a school district is use different techniques," said Oklahoma City School Board Chairperson Angela Monson.

The Flocabulary system features vocabulary books, math books and social studies. It cost the Oklahoma City School District $95,000 in federal funds.

A concerned teacher spoke out about the books because of his concerns over content. He is worried for his job and wished to remain anonymous.

"The public has been cheated. The students have been cheated. Teachers have been cheated," he said.

One of the chapters in the U.S. history book is called O.D.W.M., which stands for Old Dead White Men. It's a section that aims to teach students about past presidents.

"Our founding fathers deserve a little more respect than that," said the concerned educator.

Each section of the textbooks comes along with an original rap that centers on the chapter's subject. One about pilgrims refers to "Sipping Henny." The phrase is later defined as sipping Hennesey Cognac.

"I just don't think it's appropriate. I don't think any parent would want their child looking at that material," the anonymous teacher added.

The vocabulary books quote real rap songs. Other books reference rap artists like Tupac and his song "Hit Em' Up." The quotes used in the material are clean but come from lyrics full of profanity, sex, and violence. Some of the raps referenced use incorrect grammar.

http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=13234543

http://www.flocabulary.com/

[custosnox]

Some of the raps referenced use incorrect grammar.

Sorry, but this one sentence is the one that really came across to me as "uh, duh!"

[nathanm]

Heh, I think it's worth a hundred grand to see if it works. If it does, great! If not, stop doing it and try something else.

[Conan71]

Hundred grand here hundred grand there, not like it will all add up to trillions of dollars some day.

[nathanm]

Hundred grand here hundred grand there, not like it will all add up to trillions of dollars some day.

That's the thing, it doesn't. Even with all the wastage, it all only adds up to a few hundred billion dollars. The majority of the large number we complain about is in defense and homeland security. It seems ridiculous to me to focus on the smaller part of the problem rather than the larger part.

Besides, one time costs to try something like this out isn't much of a problem. It's the ongoing costs that kill you. Think about it this way: For the marginal cost of a single F-35, you could fund a thousand of these experiments. We're buying about 2400 of them.

[Conan71]

That's the thing, it doesn't. Even with all the wastage, it all only adds up to a few hundred billion dollars. The majority of the large number we complain about is in defense and homeland security. It seems ridiculous to me to focus on the smaller part of the problem rather than the larger part.

Besides, one time costs to try something like this out isn't much of a problem. It's the ongoing costs that kill you. Think about it this way: For the marginal cost of a single F-35, you could fund a thousand of these experiments. We're buying about 2400 of them.

Total clueless liberal claptrap.  that's a few hundred million the government needs in tax money or debt each year.  Have you seen what government over-indulgence has led to in the EU?  Way too many people are expecting way too much out of government.  No one cares because it's not "their" money.  It's always someone else's money.

The austerity strikes of 2010

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Europe-Hit-by-Widespread-Strikes--104013088.html

[Ed W]

One hundred thousand dollars will buy you a simple traffic light at a four way intersection, or it will fund one tenth of a mile of highway.  Experimentation and research are inherently wasteful because they often find blind alleys.  Finding out what doesn't work is just a part of finding the programs that are genuinely beneficial. 

On the face of it, the program described seems to have little chance of success, but it's worth making an attempt.  Also, from the original piece, it would be easy to mistake the program as a new curriculum, and that's incorrect.  If this were new curriculum, some school board would have to approve it in public meetings, and I simply can't see that happening.

[nathanm]

Total clueless liberal claptrap.  that's a few hundred million the government needs in tax money or debt each year.  Have you seen what government over-indulgence has led to in the EU?  Way too many people are expecting way too much out of government.  No one cares because it's not "their" money.  It's always someone else's money.

Greece's problem isn't that they spend so much money, it's that they collect so little in taxes because half of them don't bother to pay and enforcement is lax.

It's called prioritization. Put your energy into the place it will do the most good. The little things are just a distraction until they become the big things because you've tackled all the other problems.

Also, what Ed said.

[waterboy]

Alternative schools are full of "outside the box" thinking. That is where the kids are and traditional stuff has already proven ineffective. This isn't the worst thing I've heard but it does sound unlikely to succeed. I have to agree though, that it is only through trial and error that progress occurs. There may be something in the program that hits paydirt and can be used elsewhere.

[Red Arrow]

Reaching otherwise unreachable kids is an admirable goal.   

I can't even imagine the furor if such a program referred to MLK as an "Old Dead Black Man".

[Red Arrow]

Greece's problem isn't that they spend so much money, it's that they collect so little in taxes because half of them don't bother to pay and enforcement is lax.

Then they just need to raise taxes so that the 50% they collect is enough to run the country.  Shouldn't be a problem with all those rich Greek Shipping owners.

[guido911]

The implementation of this program has apparently been delayed.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-district-pushes-pause-on-hip-hop-curriculum/article/3500154?custom_click=lead_story_title

[Conan71]

Here's some of the smash hits in Flocabulary, and yes, it's flagrantly racist:

"There were five tribes white guys called civilized,
because of the way their government was organized:
Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek.
Isn't cheap? They call my Jeep a Jeep Cherokee?
What if they called my Jeep a Jeep Jew?
Imagine the outrage. What would you do?

Nice mash-up on the Bill of Rights:

6. The Bill of Rights
LYRICS

Number One
Freedom of religion, speech, and press,
plus you can assemble in crowds and protest.

Number Two
Right to bear arms and cannons,
I bet the Minutemen didn't know about handguns.

Number Three
When soldiers gets sleepy,
you don't have to let them sleep up on your couch.

Number Four
No one can search and seize.
It protects me, unless people have a warrant to arrest me.

Number Five
If you arrest me, respect me.
Sorry Alex, there's no Double Jeopardy.
What’d you do after school? "I plead the fifth."
What’d you do after that, dude? "I plead the fifth."
I don't have to incriminate myself or risk my health,
whenver I'm in trouble, I just plead the fifth.

Number Six
You must process me speedily.

Number Seven
In front of my peers on the jury.

Number Eight
You can't use cruel or unusual punishment.
You can't make me drink turpentine for the fun of it.

Number Nine
The people get more than these rights.

Number Ten
States can make other laws, and they just might.
This is the Bill of Rights.

And finally, this nice little ditty, ODWM:

7. O.D.W.M.
LYRICS
Yo, he step up in the House, people call for joy,
but his slaves be thinking they're going to jump this boy
for spitting all that hypocrisy, talking about equality,
but beating brothers who ain't picking up his cotton properly.
He wanted people to choose their religion like dim sum.
Thought the Pres was too powerful like King Kong.
Ding Dong!
Listen to this, not an abolitionist, we're hitting this,
this is softball, slow-pitch. Witch!
Check the map, western half is black and dark.
Buy Louisiana with bonds. We're rich like Häagen-Dazs.
Jefferson sends out Lewis and Clark,
forty men, two-by-two like Noah's ark.
West on the Missouri, winter in Bismarck,
this is nature dawg, this ain't Central Park.
Indian teenager named Sacagawea joins the group.
We’re the Hekawi like F-troop.
Guides them through Rockies like MapQuest,
met Indians and bears, no time to nap or rest.
On the real, expedition mapped the whole west.
Came home, Lewis killed himself, he was depressed.
Who's going to mess with him? He goes by Thomas Jefferson,
the dude who drafted the independent declaration.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time,
with the blood of patriots and tyrants . . .
O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
We're talking 'bout some Old Dead White Men.
There's a thin line between a hater and a lover.
Burr and Hamilton running for governor, but run for cover.
They're dueling. Hamilton missed the mark like Crystal Pepsi,
Burr shot him in the face like Dick Cheney.
What's amazing kid is what came after it:
Burr tried to form the United States of Aaron Burr,
got caught, tried for treason, gave many reasons,
washed his hands, jumped bail to France. Levez les mains.
Jefferson's chilling in Paris, thinking lofty thoughts,
one of his visiting slaves steals his heart.
She's dressed in yellow, she says "hello,
you probably noticed me in the fields of Monticello."
Jefferson and Sally Hemings sitting in a tree, M-A-K-I-N-G many babies.
First come scandal, then comes more.
Now Jefferson's got his face on Mount Rushmore.
Flocabulary Site License Manual – Hip-Hop U.S. History 20
. . . Jefferson, Jackson,
Madison, Washington,
Monroe, Adams,
John Quincy Adams . . .
O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
We're talking 'bout some Old Dead White Men.
Free Lemonade! Free OJ, like Johnny Cochran.
Monroe Doctrine says Europe don't come a-knocking.
Don't mess with our continent; we ought to get a fence around
all of South America to keep you people out of it.
Called it the Era of Good Feelings but they're wrong.
White men getting richer than Enron, they're steppin' on
Indians, women, and blacks. Era of Good Feelings doesn't cover the facts.
Andrew Jackson thinks he's a tough guy,
killing more Indians than there are stars in the sky.
Illegal wars in Florida, killing the Seminole.
Saying "hello" then putting the Creek in hellholes.
Like Adolf Hitler, he had a Final Solution.
"Go away Indians! I don't want you to live here anymore!"
Cherokee at the Supreme Court appealed.
They got the boot, they had to walk down the Trail of Tears.O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
O.D.W.M.
We're talking 'bout some Old Dead White Men.

Geez, my IQ just dropped about 40 points.  Anyone care to mount a good defense of this program now?  This does nothing to improve race relations.  I read "hate whitey" in all of this.  It's an abomination and my tax dollars sure as hell don't need to be funding this.

http://www.flocabulary.com/images/history/history_site_license_manual.pdf

[guido911]

I wonder if Prop 744 money would be used to fund this crap.

[Smokinokie]

I wonder if Prop 744 money would be used to fund this crap.

That kind of crap is why my kids don't go to public schools.