Draft social studies standards fall short — submit feedback today!

The second draft of Minnesota K-12 social studies standards requires much improvement to ensure our students are prepared to be informed and engaged citizens and members of society. American Experiment has written about the the concerning themes dominating the draft standards and benchmarks — which represent the application of Critical Race Theory and reflect its framework — and how these themes would take Minnesota education in the wrong direction.

The deadline for submitting feedback on the second draft to the Minnesota Department of Education and the Social Studies Standards Committee is today (August 16) at 4 p.m. You can email feedback directly through American Experiment’s Raise Our Standards campaign or through MDE’s online survey.

Aside from the concerning — and dominating — focus on oppression, marginalization, victimhood, power struggles, and subjective narratives throughout the draft document, students would still be left with gaping holes in their history lessons of our state and nation under the proposed revisions.

There is no mention of our Founding Fathers or the key events that led to the American Revolution.

The benchmark on the timeline of the key events of the Civil War has been removed.

Capitalism is not compared to other economic systems and is only framed in the negative (“monopoly capitalism” and “racial capitalism”).

Students won’t develop basic geographical knowledge under the geography strand, as they aren’t required to learn names of continents, oceans, rivers and nations, but they will have to explain how places and regions “are influenced by power structures.”

These are just a few of the alarming omissions in the 168-page draft document. Unlike the current standards in place, this proposed content does not call for civil discourse, historical understanding or listening to the viewpoints of others. Our students deserve better, and Minnesota can do better. Submit your feedback here before it’s too late.