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Zinn Education Project News
The Koch Brothers Sneak into School
How Right-wing Billionaires Seek to Shape the Social Studies Curriculum
 

By Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Schools curriculum editor
and Zinn Education Project co-director


This month in Boston, thousands of teachers will gather for the annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference.
 
Two non-teachers will be there, too: Charles and David Koch, the notorious right-wing billionaires.

Well, the Kochs won't be there in person, but they will be represented by a Koch-funded and controlled organization: the Arlington, Virginia-based Bill of Rights Institute. For years, the Bill of Rights Institute has shown up at NCSS conferences to offer curriculum workshops, distribute teaching materials, and collect the names of interested educators. What the Bill of Rights Institute representatives fail to mention when they speak with teachers is that they have been the conduit for millions of dollars from Charles and David Koch, as the brothers seek to influence the country's social studies curriculum. Continue reading.

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"The Koch Brothers Sneak into School: How Right-wing Billionaires Seek to Shape the Social Studies Curriculum" is the newest article in the Zinn Education Project series,
If We Knew Our History, posted on Common Dreams, AlterNet, and Huffington Post.

You can help us reach a wider audience in three steps: 
Read, comment, and share today!


 
See You in Boston!
People's History at the 2014 National Council for the Social Studies Conference

Rethinking Schools authors Linda Christensen and Bill Bigelow
Meet Rethinking Schools authors Linda Christensen and Bill Bigelow at the booth.
The Zinn Education Project will have a major presence with three booths at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference in Boston from Nov. 21-22, 2014. If you are one of the thousands of social studies teachers from around the world attending the NCSS conference, be sure to stop by the Zinn Education Project booths (#717-719-816).
 
Our booth is always abuzz with inspiring conversations as educators meet to share teaching people's history success stories, challenges, and resource ideas.

We will feature Rethinking Schools books, people's history resources, an art display with photos and Americans Who Tell the Truth posters, and the always-popular raffle. Read more.

 
This Changes Everything Writing Retreat


A group of 16 teachers were selected from more than 170 applicants from the United States, Canada, and Mexico for a two-day This Changes Everything/Zinn Education Project curriculum writing retreat to be held in Portland, Oregon in mid-December.

 

Given how little time we have left to address the climate crisis, it is inspiring to know that so many teachers are finding such meaningful ways to teach the truth. Continue reading.

 
New from Rethinking Schools
A People's Curriculum for the Earth
Teaching Climate Change and
the Environmental Crisis
Edited by Bill Bigelow and Tim Swinehart

"A People's Curriculum for the Earth is an educator's toolkit for our times." -Naomi Klein

A People's Curriculum for the Earth is a collection of articles, role plays, simulations, stories, poems, and graphics to help breathe life into teaching about the environmental crisis. Read more.

Be one of the first to get a copy this weekend at NCSS in Boston or at the Teachers for Social Justice Curriculum Fair!


 
Upcoming Educator Conference
Teaching Resources
Nov. 22 | Chicago
Visit the Rethinking Schools table.
Teaching about Ferguson
Here are a few ideas and resources for the classroom to help students think critically about the events in Ferguson and ways they can be proactive in their own communities. Learn more at Teaching for Change.
 
Champion the Right to Teach and Learn People's History
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The goal of the Zinn Education Project is to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of United States history.
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