Coal In The Classroom
Posted on October 30, 2009 | By Denny Tyler | No Comments
This is one of those things that was going to happen for the simple fact that King Coal owns West Virginia.
Battle over coal moves into Raleigh classrooms
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary wrapped up its first Coal in the Classroom program in the Raleigh County public schools with a field trip this week.
Its pro-coal curriculum was piloted at a private elementary school last year.
On Tuesday, Stratton Elementary School’s fourth-grade class traveled to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine for a firsthand look at an underground mine.
First of all, I can’t even begin to put into words how pissed off I would be If I had a child in any Raleigh County public school. I’m afraid I would be right up in someones face demanding this nonsense end immediately.
Below is a comment posted to the article above. As far as I’m concerned this person hit the nail square on the head.
Granted that coal is part of our history, but what these kids are going to get is nothing more than pro coal industry propaganda. Do you think they’ll be talking about the mine wars? No. Do you think they’ll learn about the “judicious mixture” that Justice Collins developed in his mine camps? No. Do you think that they’ll learn about the Baldwin Felts thugs and their later incorporation as the West Virginia State Police? No. What they will be programmed with is that the coal industry loves them and that everything to do with coal is decent and good, and when you grow up you can be burned to death in a methane explosion which will be fine because we’re all friends of coal.
I have to stick by my beliefs and maintain the battle over coal simply should not be in an elementary school classroom. The absolutely only way I would concede, reluctantly, to the idea of coal in the classroom is if the class was taught by a certified teacher knowledgeable specifically in not only the history of coal as it relates to West Virginia and the Nation, but also to both positive and negative aspects of coal as it relates to now and the world. That would be the only way that a child could still decide for themselves the right path for them to take. A class being taught by a friends of coal ladies auxiliary, to fourth graders for crying out loud, is nothing more than taking those children by the hand and leading them down the path you would prefer they go. That is just wrong on so many levels. Most folks want what is best for their children… tell me… can anyone honestly say they want their child to be a coal miner?
From the Raleigh County Board of Education website -
Responsibility
Achievement
Leadership
Excellence
Integrity
Growth
Honesty
Obviously the first letters spell Raleigh. I think they should find some new words for some of them because responsibility, integrity, and honesty have definitely flown the coup.
The United Nations are going to be talking climate change in Copenhagen this year while in Raleigh County, West Virginia we will be teaching our fourth graders the benefits of burning coal for America.
Speaking of Copenhagen, briefly… I don’t think America should be allowed through the doors in Copenhagen. I think climate change ranks somewhere around 9 on America’s priority list with corporations and campaign contributions dominating the number 1 spot.
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Update – I’m glad I’m not alone in my thinking on this issue. Pro-coal curriculum doesn’t belong in classroom
Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us. – Aldo Leopold
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