Opinion: Supplemental history materials for Idaho students are a good idea

Rebecca Tallent

American history is complicated, and now Idaho history teachers have access to a new supplemental curriculum called “The Story of America” to help explain it.

Gov. Brad Little and Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield said the optional material is both fair and factual, that it does not shy away from the realities of history.

An initial review shows the material does cover subjects such as the Jim Crow laws of the South, women’s rights and immigration/rejection of various groups, such as the Chinese in the 1880s. The interactive book/website/video project is funded through three years of federal money; no state money is being used in either the development or distribution of the materials.

But — and here is the rub for many critics — the material is optional. It still allows school districts to ignore certain aspects of American history. Still, other critics will complain that conservative former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett (under President George H.W. Bush) is behind the project, questioning its reliability.

No matter what the political persuasion, we must recognize that far too often unsettling facts involving race and culture tend to bring out a knee-jerk, “that’s un-American” reaction by people who, for whatever reason, do not want history explained.

Since when is telling the truth not patriotic? Why must the inclusion of other groups who helped build America be fought?

For many years at the University of Idaho, I would talk about media coverage of the war the Kootenai Tribe declared on the United States to get federal recognition and save their people. Far too many of my Idaho-born students would say they had never heard of this event; some were angry it was not taught in high school. The Kootenai War was in 1974, not exactly ancient history. They complained it would help them better understand issues in Indigenous America, which is in all 50 states.

For the most part, students said they would rather understand why things happened, not just know who won a particular conflict or issue. Students are generally curious, and they want solid answers rather than fuzzy explanations.

An additional reason to teach this or another supplemental material giving a broad explanation of American history is a report from the National Association of Educational Progress (also known as the National Report Card). The NAEP’s 2018 report showed 66 percent of the nation’s eighth-grade students performed “at or above basic” while only 15 percent scored as proficient in U.S. history. The recent pandemic made those numbers even worse.

The same report said 70 percent of all U.S. eighth-grade students only read at or just above a basic level, the largest drop in reading scores since 1992 when the assessment was first administered.

These numbers generally do not improve as the students’ progress through high school and college; sometimes the percentages are even worse if students lose interest.

For school districts who decide not to use the free supplemental material, the question must be asked: Why fear it? There are several excellent reasons for exposing students to factual history, these reasons include:

— Improving critical thinking skills.

— Improving writing and communication skills.

— Improving reading and comprehension skills.

— Especially in history, explaining why there is distrust by some racial and cultural groups of white Americans.

— Giving students a solid historical base to help them make future decisions involving other cultural groups.

This proposed program is interactive, it helps students see history through videos and other connections, which includes literacy skills alongside historical information. Interactive programs help students better understand issues and concepts.

For people who are ultimately concerned with how students do on the state tests (often a key to legislative funding), such a program also helps students prepare for the state assessments.

Granted, in the long run it will take time to see if this program is a good fit for Idaho schools or not. But hopefully, Idaho’s middle and high school history teachers will eventually find materials that do work and tell the complete history of this multifaceted, complex country.

After all, expanding minds and developing the quality life skills of critical thinking, writing and understanding always have good educational value.

An award winning journalist and public relations professional, Rebecca Tallent was a journalism faculty member at the University of Idaho for 13 years before her retirement in 2019.

The National Archives is releasing thousands of emails that Biden sent to Hunter under a pseudonym that prove he was giving government secrets to Hunter to relay to foreign governments

For those millions in bribes. And the walls come

Tumbling down......looks like the deep state wants

Another candidate. I hope ya'll haven't put up the

Biden signs yet.

All I asked Ian for was a level playing field....

You two annoying leftist gnats have known who

I was and where I live for 20 years. And now I know where you live. I expect red in blue will be

A bit more polite from now on. He's been pretty

Nasty for an 80 year old grandpa.....you kiss your

Granddaughter with that mouth? From what you've said......pink tutus are a hot item in the military.....Putin is going to clean our clock.

Until the Patriots unleash the Kraken. Ya....

She shouldn't have used that line until she

Got subpoenas and forced those leftist activist judges to release voting records. You democrats

Cheated.....we just haven't been allowed to look

At the records to prove that you cheated....

Only in America!

Cool story, I've shared it before but I feel like sharing it again. My high school coach Morris Abrahams was a typical affirmation action hire.

Well he got busted for screwing around with the

Girls basketball team. He finally got fired, I guess he didn't have tenure. His white wife wanted a divorce and he wasn't happy about that. They separated and he moved out of the house. One

Day after a frequent fight, which ended up out on

The front lawn.......he killed her with a pick axe

To the skull........a freaking pick axe. Cops had been called earlier because of the fight and watched the entire thing. They didn't shoot him

To save his wife.....he was an ex-football player

For U of M......so a little celebrity status. And

In that town there was such a thing as Black privilege.....because you know......that 400 years

Of oppression thing you always hear about.

But anyway it never ceases to amaze me that my

High school coach.......murdered his wife.

Moral of the story......date within your own race.

My brothers, when the bamanazi FBI, IRS, ATF

Shows up at your door.....livestream on utube...

Then they can't get away with illegally shooting you like that crippled old man in Utah. These feds

Don't use body cams.....as if the cops don't conveniently delete those all the time. And if

You livestream.....them making your phone disappear won't matter. I believe that the feds

Do have machines that shut down wifi.....but

It's your only chance at letting the truth out.

Hang on brothers, Trump is coming to the rescue

The bamanazis are going down.

No.....I saves a $1000 and figured it out on my own. Cause I'm smart. And public education didn't build that.....life built that.

Idahoans......if you send your kids to the University of Idaho.....they are guaranteed to

Come out communists. Better to send them to

ISU.....where they have a 30% chance of being a normal American patriot.

To any and all who have had on-line feuds with

red in blue......formerly blue in red. Steve Bevan

Is RED IN BLUE! Savor the flavor my brothers.

What do a lot of these Communist Journal letter

Writers and columnists have it common....

They conveniently were indoctrinated at the

University of Idaho in Moscva. Just say no to

This radical democrat agenda to take over Idaho.

Boot them out.

It's no coincidence that a lot of idaho communists

Went to school or taught in Moscow. Could we cede that city to Washington?

Paradise Valley was cool......he-ll Hog Heaven was

Better than Moscow Idaho. Too many commies in

This state.

Tallent even looks like she comes from Moscow....

Not in Idaho, the other Moscow. Speaking of which.....that city really needs a name change.

The original was better.....I slips my mind....

But anything is better than Moskva.

We came, we saw, we conquered. Nothing to be

Ashamed of, all races did it. I believe that I read a statistic that said there are more slaves today than at any time in history.....and instead of trying

To stop that, you liberals are dwelling on what

Happened 200 years ago. You are really a bunch of idiots. Blue eyed devils shall inherent the 🌎.

"For the most part, students said they would rather understand why things happened, not just know who won a particular conflict or issue. Students are generally curious, and they want solid answers rather than fuzzy explanations." Tallent

That's the reason that maga is going to lose on this issue too. You can't hold young people down. And they'll dig it up and remember who it was that hid it from them. That is until they get old and and give up. Only in America!

There's a difference in informing them and harping incessantly on a subject.

Don't worry......400 years of oppression 101 will

Always be taught by these leftist activist teachers.

Basically.......white man is the devil. It's a great thing for race relations. Kinda like having to go

To a school in the 70s with a large black population.......in the week that Roots aired...

Good times. Made me the man I am today.

A sheltered idaho liberal didn't get to experience

School assemblies with black kids on stage waving black panther flags and black nationalist flags.......fists in the air......chanting in unison....

Red represents the color of our blood

Black represents the color of our skin

Green represents the color of our land.

That attempt at radical leftist indoctrination just

Didn't take.

Red represents the color of my neck

White represents the color of my skin

Blue represents the color of my eyes

You see, that racial identity BS goes both ways.

A step in the right direction. "A Peoples History of the United States" by Howard Zinn should be required reading.

I don't even have to Google him to know that he was a freaking communist.

Ding ding ding......Socialist Intellectual......

Ha ha ha........you are so predictable. What a freaking scumbag you are.

That dude never showed, but I just offered Ian

A $1000 for your identity.....tic toc tic toc tic toc tic

Time. Now the time has come......Time...

No place to run......Time....

Time has come today......Time.

If you just give it to him red, he'll be like the dog who caught the tire.

And chewed it to shreds....along with the prius it

Was attached to.

Mike- here's the update- Ewe-Gene still hasn't cleaned up the dog sh*t in his yard. See you next time or sooner if something changes.

I'll meet you at the Exxon in Arimo and you can give me the $1000. That way, you can find out who I am. But you shouldn't let one moment of courage f**k you up for the rest of your life.

I'm in poky right now, I'll save you the gas. Where you at?

Intimidation only works if you're scary. You're about as scary as my pink tutu. BTW what's the name of your band and where do you work?

Uh....you in a pink tutu is scary as ph-uck. Sick puppy.

You such a tuff guy!!!

JJ Evans.....I know.

So, think about my question mr eugene sant 50 N Meadowview Dr, Arimo, ID 83214.

I love death threats.....makes me feel alive.

You leftist losers have been doxxing me for over

20 years......Mike Mathews Creamery Road Rockland. See.....I can do that too.

Don't get dramatic p u s s. Think of it more along the lines as a can you get by on your SS threat.

You're the KING of threats and doxing. Ya just don't like it when the shoe's on the other foot. I've got an idea why don't we all just stop both. Ball's in your court champ.

Clear to everyone who the big hairy puzzzzy is....

And it's you. You admitted to wearing a tutu. Your

Daddy must be so proud.

No house payment, no car payment.....yes I can get by with social security.....what's it to you?

Can you get by without giving $5 hummers on the

Corner?

I wear a tutu in you pea size brain because I don't have a problem with people living and enjoying their own lives.

So, you figure it out. If you keep it up I'll keep it up too and we'll see who comes out on the bottom.

Says the bottom bi--tch.

I don't know why it matters to me but maybe you shouldn't give up that easily.

So does your 'band' play paid gigs or do you just go over to Doyle's house and play in the back yard.

You know because if I was a business owner dependent on sales I wouldn't really be interested in the politics of my contractors affecting my bottom line. Or, maybe your just playing in the back yard.

Does your employer know that you're a Trump

Hating, America hating, commie in a pink tutu?

All my stuff is paid off. Don't need one.

I love America enough to show up and serve my country when I was 18. How about you?

And it's not really about who you support that will get ya it's who you are. A separatist who apparently thinks only white men drink at the bar.

Most people who have the runs simply go to the

Bathroom.......yet here you are spewing all over the internet.

Let's see.....bands bands......too many to remember.......mis-led.....mirrors.....bromptons cocktail, Agatha Bones, Wages of Sin, Cochise, cowboys from he-ll, rockin horse....

I haven't picked up a guitar in years....

My new gig is destroying democrats.

I'm the king of threats and doxxing? I just found out which mike mathews you were a few months ago. You and red in blue have been threatening me and doxxing me for 20 years, cyber stalking me, stalking my property and reporting your surveillance on line. You two really seem to have

A lot of free time on your hands if you can drive

All the way out here just to spy on me. No matter

How you spin it, you two are villains of this story.

I wouldn't drive to the end of my driveway to spy on you. However, as I've told you many times if you feel need to threaten about coming to my house and kicking my a z z I'll be happy to introduce you to a slag facial. That's the thing about threats.... it only works for you if you can intimidate people. I've ALWAYS only represented myself here. And if you've been trying to figure out which mike mathews I was it means you've been trying for along time. Jesus you're an idiot. How many are there in eastern Idaho?? The other thing is if you think you can threaten people under a made up bottom shelf liquor name or any of the others you've used.... people are going to try and figure out who you are. It took me about 30 seconds. There's nobody else like you here. So, that's the thing about threatening people, they're going to try and figure out who you are and shut you down.... dumb a z s!

I thought you were the one that died about a year

Ago......and I party party partied like it's 1999...

No such luck. Punk I have said many times that

I'll meet you half way and beat the ph-uck out

Of you. Call the time and place you freaking obnoxious gnat. End this tired thread already you

Azzz.

What is it that you don't understand about making threats? You think I'm going to set something up when you're making the threat? NO you said you're coming to my house so get your a s z out here. You know where it is. you've published it and I promise I won't shoot you I'll just beat you to a pulp. End of story idiot.

I never made such threats, I said I would be more

Than gleeful to meet you anywhere and give you

The azzzwhoopin that you have deserved for 20

Years.....you thought you had me years ago with

That Wages of Sin review.....I've never been ambitious and I have never care what azzzzholes

Like you think. But you had that anonymity for

20 Years because I didn't suspect some douchebag from Creamery Road in Rockland to

Be on a Pocatello site. And now you and Steve

Bevan have admitted to cyber stalking me and

Driving by my house in some attempt to feel tough......like the Sioux counting coup.....only

You didn't have the ba-lls to face me. You and

Steve Bevan need to get matching tutus and go

Downtown Pocatello and wave Trump for Prison

Signs. Sure there are some leftist loonies who will

Approve, but 60% of Bannock county voted for Trump.....so I think you will be shocked with the response you get.

Awww cuckboy Mike Mathews disappeared because his backup just got outed and disappeared. It's difficult for leftists to fight one

On one huh cuckboy? You fight just like Detroiters......7 against 1 is n-word fun. Well I

Grew up fighting those odds sucka.

Here's what I think you're trying to say... "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."

Sorry, I couldn't just go away while you're in such crisis.

I figured you as a ringer for Stewart Smalley. Now

That pink tutu totally makes sense.

BTW who is Steve Bevin and when did we drive past your house. Are you fingering another poor children's book author with your rant?

So, all of your talk about the pink tutu is just now starting to make sense to you? And Ian took a thousand dollars to reveal the personal information of a commenter in the ISJ? Go to the mental hospital.... fast!

I really think that you've been fingering Steve Bevan.

Awww it's been two hrs and five minutes and cowgirl from he l l eugene sant disappeared because he just got outed and disappeared. It's difficult for magans to fight one

On one huh cowgirl? You fight just like liberal high school cheerleaders in Ann Arbor......7 against 1 is a bad.... mutha shut your mouth. Well I

Grew up fighting those odds... what ever...

So what about that thousand dollar Ian thing?

d am n delay.

So who is Steve Bevan and when did we drive past your house and does Ian know you gave him one thousand dollars to out Mr Bevan. Or, is the check in the mail and you pulled that guys name out of your a s z?

I bet your entire family disowned you. Poor

Cuckboy.......nobody loves him.....her.....it....

Just what are your pronouns.....dip.....ch-it?

Always default to the weird sex stuff. Ya got nothin ya are nothin.

Sorry, Sherlock-WRONG AGAIN. You sure I'm not Hackworth? Or Corrigan? Or the gun shop guy? Jesus Christ, if brains were dynamite, you couldn't blow your nose. Time........Time.......Time.......My aching a**.

That's ok.....I enjoy destroying democrats in your

Name, maybe they will finally out your chicken ch-it azzz. I'll trash this guy for a few weeks especially for his idiotic letters and I'll move on

To another leftist douchebag. When you attack

Me.....I'll attack them. It works out for both of us.

This Steve Bevan guy is a POS commie.....it makes you wonder if he ever gave military info to Russia.

How in God's name do these communists infiltrate our military? Oh right.....Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, brobama, Biden.

John Brennan and James Comey both voted for a communist party member for President.....that

Just shows the levels that these commie bastards

Can reach in our government. Only in America.

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