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Florida gets an "F" in History

13:54 H | Topics: Education - Florida - History

The Miami Herald has an article today about how, despite the very strong Latin American and Spanish origins of the state of Florida (and it's huge Latino population), the state's educational system is flunking out on teaching kids about Latin American history -- and any other history:

Despite the state's burgeoning Hispanic population, an education think tank gives Florida an F when it comes to teaching students about the history of Latin America -- or any other civilization.

The failing grade comes because the state's standards for teaching world history are so vague, concludes the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which didn't hesitate to castigate the state.

''Florida's approach is so superficial that it is, for all intents and purposes, worthless,'' said the report, which was released Monday. ``There's nothing glowing in the Sunshine State's standards, and little worth redeeming.''

Ouch.

Citing a "Eurocentric" approach to teaching history -- both in Florida and in other states -- a Fordham Foundation VP said:

''As bad a job as the states do in making sure students know the history of the world, they do an even worse job in Latin America,'' said Michael Petrilli, the foundation's vice president for national programs and policy. He noted that only nine of the 50 states ``even mention Simón Bolívar, the George Washington of Latin America.''

To be fair, Florida isn't the only state with a flunking grade. Indeed, only 12 states received an "A" or "B"; among them are California, Georgia, Indiana, New York and South Carolina.

Via / Charlotte.com and Hispanic Tips

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