State of the union address

Last night was the first night that I was able to make it through an entire "State of the Union Address." Maybe it is because I am becoming more mature in my position as an adult American or because I essentially work for the government. In the speech last night President Bush said that English and Math scores have gone up significantly and the achievement gap between minorities and whites has gone down significantly. He said much more work is to be done in the areas of Science to prepare our students for the ever changing workforce. He wants congress to pass an extension to NCLB. I think this is great, NCLB needs a few changes but overall it is a good plan to provide accountability to schools and hold a standard that is the same for everyone. What I disapprove of is that there was no mention of Social Studies or History. Where does a person learn what the State of the Union is? Where does a person learn why it is important that we keep a close eye on Iran? Where does a person learn that it is honorable to help others and lead a life of service? There are many more where ifs that can be asked. The answer always points to Social Studies and History. By not testing in the areas of Social Studies and History NCLB has told low performing districts not to worry about that subject to focus primarily on reading, writing, science and math. In most cases I would argue that many students do not leave elementary school knowing the difference between a town, city, state, and country. That they cannot place the state in which they live in, on a map or they cannot even name the states that surround their state. Middle school is the time to learn of people from around the world, to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to live on a diverse planet. High school should take the knowledge of geography and basic civics from elementary school combine it with the knowledge of civilizations from around the world and the beginnings of America learned in middle school to give a student the opportunity to discover how politics, religion, economics, and diversity affect the decisions that world leaders make and that they make on a day to day basis. If I could afford the lobbyist to get this included in NCLB and create a curriculum that would satisfy all of what I said I would be a rich man and way smarter than I am. Instead I hope and pray that one day the people in D.C. will decide that what they learned in their social studies classes as children is what taught them how our government works.