Nebraska Educators Debate Leaving Founding Fathers Out of Social Studies Books

America’s Founding Fathers, as well as other historical figures and dates will be restored in proposed new Nebraska social studies standards, a state official leading the rewrite said Tuesday.

Their absence from an earlier draft, which focused instead on broad concepts and themes, drew criticism from the public and some members of the Nebraska Board of Education when released in April.

“We will definitely be adding historical figures back in there,” said Donlynn Rice, administrator of curriculum, instruction and innovation in the Nebraska Department of Education. “We listened to the input.”

However, fresh concerns about the draft standards were raised Tuesday as Rice briefed state board members on the progress of the rewrite.

Board member John Sieler of Omaha, a former Republican Party official, expressed concern that the draft standards suggest that manmade global warming is fact, not theory; advocate for global government, which he said is not recognized in the U.S. Constitution; and fail to emphasize American exceptionalism.

In 2007, state lawmakers directed the Nebraska Board of Education to update the state’s academic standards — language arts, math and science are already done. This year, it’s social studies.