IB/PYP: Taxes redefine 'choice'

In a recent letter to the editor, Dawn Cordes states, "Please stop trying to make the choice for me and my children."

She is referencing PYP at Hayden Meadows and addressing the Kolers who have been critics of the program. The flaw in this logic is neglecting to note that the Kolers and others have left the school because a controversial curriculum was introduced at their local "public" school. 

The International Baccalaureate Organization’s agenda to cultivate world citizens in my opinion makes IBO/PYP a special interest group. I do not think it is fair to introduce a special interest's agenda into a "public" school and expect at least some of the families not to be upset. If UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IBO want to start a private school with their own money and people want to attend that school and pay tuition then it is a choice.

Hayden Meadows is a beautiful school and was built via taxpayer money. The electricity, water, food, furniture, teachers, etc. are paid for with public funds.  Therefore, the program should appeal to all students not just those whose goal in elementary school is to be a world citizen.  

I am sure Hayden Meadows teachers, students and parents are wonderful people.  They likely don't understand the politics of "international" education.  And make no mistake, cultivating world thinkers is political.  If you go to the IBO website and read some of the IB Research notes, they encourage teachers to address issues like teaching peace, community activism, environmentalism, gender equality and many other social issues.  They do not say address issues like math, grammar, reading and writing. The job of a publicly funded school is to primarily teach academic subjects, not to socially engineer young Americans.

 SHELLEY BOWEN

Rathdrum