Education

2010 Summer Journal–SB6 S⁠t⁠uden⁠t⁠ Ass⁠i⁠gnmen⁠t⁠

By: The James Madison Institute / July 15, 2010

Education

July 15, 2010

“Prompting Pupils to Parrot the Party Line”
By William Mattox, JMI Resident Fellow
Using public records law, JMI staff obtained copies of student phone messages, letters, and e-mails to Florida elected officials about S.B. 6.  Curiously, many student calls were made during school hours and followed a familiar script.  In some, the voice of an adult “prompter” could be heard in the background when students struggled to remember their “lines.”Similarly, a political science instructor at East Ridge High School in Clermont sent a packet of nearly 100 letters that his students wrote to the Senate President as a class assignment.  The teacher claimed he presented the bill with “a neutral connotation” – and expressed “total amazement” when all of his students opposed S.B. 6. Yet, included in the packet – no doubt by accident – was the teacher’s actual assignment, which included “talking points” against S.B. 6 that had been copied from a memo (also enclosed) written from teachers unions’ perspective.  No arguments in support of S.B. 6 were included with the assignment.Not surprisingly, the students’ letters echo arguments found in the “talking points” memo – sometimes word-for-word.  To review these letters and the teacher’s assignment, view the attached “SB6 Student Assignment” document.