Curriculum issues

Curriculum in the United States varies widely from district to district. Not only do schools offer an incredible range of topics and quality, but private schools may include religious classes as mandatory for attendance (this also begets the problem of government funding vouchers; see below). This has produced camps of arrgument over the standardization of curriculum and to what degree. Some feel that schools should be nationalized and the curriculum changed to a national standard.[citation needed] These same groups often are advocates of standardized testing, which is mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. Aside from who controls the curriculum, groups argue over the teaching of the English language, evolution, and sex education.[citation needed]
President George W. Bush signing the No Child Left Behind ActA large issue facing the curriculum today is the use of the English language in teaching. English is spoken by over 95% of the nation, and there is a strong national tradition of upholding English as the de facto official language. Some 9.7 million children aged 5 to 17 primarily speak a language other than English at home. Of those, about 1.3 million children speak English "not well" or "not at all."[38] While a few, mostly Hispanic, groups want bilingual education, the majority of school districts are attempting to use English as a Second Language (ESL) course to teach Spanish-speaking students English. In addition, many feel there are threats to the "integrity" of the language itself. For example, there has been discussion about whether to classify as a "second language" the dialect called African American Vernacular English (known colloquially as Ebonics, a portmanteau of "ebony" and "phonics"). While it is not taught in any American schools, debate continues over its place in education.
In 1999 the School Board of the state of Kansas caused controversy when it decided to eliminate testing of evolution in its state assessment tests.[39] This caused outrage among scientists and average citizens alike, and intense media coverage and the national spotlight persuaded the board to eventually overturn the decision. As of 2005, such controversies have not abated. Not surprisingly, scientific observers stress the importance of evolution in the curriculum and some dislike the idea of intelligent design or creationist ideas being taught in schools since they are not supported by the mainstream scientific community, which dismisses them as pseudoscience.[40] Some fundamentalist religious and "family values" groups, on the other hand, stress the need to teach creationism in the public schools and argue that evolution in some instances may technically be a religion. While a majority of United States citizens approve of teaching evolution, many also support teaching intelligent design and/or creationism in public schools. Support for evolution was also found to be greater among the more educated.[41]
Today, sex education ("sex ed") in the United States is highly controversial. Many schools attempt to avoid the study as much as possible, confining it to a unit in health classes. There are few specifically sex education classes in existence. Also, because President Bush has called for abstinence-only sex education and has the power to withhold funding,[42] many schools are backing away from instructing students in the use of birth control or contraceptives.
However, according to a 2004 survey, a majority of the 1001 parent groups polled wants complete sex education in the schools. The American people are heavily divided over the issue. Many agreed with the statement "Sex education in school makes it easier for me to talk to my child about sexual issues," while a proportion disagreed with the statement that their children were being exposed to "subjects I don't think my child should be discussing." Also, only 10 percent believed that their children's sexual education class forced them to discuss sexual issues "too early." On the other hand, 49 percent of the respondents (the largest group) were only "somewhat confident" that the values taught in their children's sex ed classes were similar to those taught at home, and 23 percent were less confident still. (The margin of error was plus or minus 4.7 percent.)[43]
There is constant debate over which subjects should receive the most focus, with astronomy and geography among those cited as not being taught enough in schools