The Des Moines Register

Bill pushes Western civilizati­on studies

- Galen Bacharier Des Moines Register USA TODAY NETWORK Galen Bacharier covers the statehouse & politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registerme­dia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacha­rier.

Iowa lawmakers are on the brink of passing new social studies requiremen­ts that include a focus on “Western civilizati­on,” among other themes and topics.

Senate Republican­s revived the proposal in a last-minute amendment to a separate bill Tuesday, approving a plan for the State Board of Education to review and revise Iowa’s social studies standards — over the objections of Democrats.

Those new standards would be required to include instructio­n on the structure of government, civics and “exemplary figures and important events in Western civilizati­on, the United States and the state of Iowa.” It also specifies teaching on “the crimes against humanity that have occurred under communist regimes since 1917.”

A previous bill containing the curriculum requiremen­ts passed the House but died ahead of one of the session’s “funnel” deadlines. As lawmakers enter the final days of session, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, added the requiremen­ts to House File 2545, which commission­s a state review of standards and curriculum.

“It came over here, and it was negotiated into the bill we’re talking about,” Zaun said of talks between House and Senate Republican­s.

Democrats unsuccessf­ully attempted to remove references to “Western civilizati­on” throughout the bill, seeking to replace them with “world civilizati­on.” Sen. Herman Quirmbach, DAmes, argued that when using the former term, “what we’re really talking about is white people.”

“When we direct the study four times over to just Western civilizati­on, we’re giving a signal of the type of results we want,” Quirmbach said.

Zaun responded that he didn’t believe the language in the bill prohibited any teaching of other societies or world figures.

“There’s nothing here to say that is not part of, or cannot be a part of (curriculum) in this amendment,” Zaun said.

Democrats remained opposed to the amended bill, with Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, saying it “is not the job of the Legislatur­e to prescribe curriculum that would limit teachers’ time and resources.”

The version of the bill that earlier this session passed the House had curriculum requiremen­ts sourced from Civics Alliance, a New York-based group aiming to stop civics education from being turned “into a recruitmen­t tool of the progressiv­e left.” The National Council for the Social Studies, which says it represents more than 10,000 educators, has opposed the Civics Alliance’s proposed standards.

Senators approved of the altered bill in a 33-14 party-line vote, sending it back to the House for final approval.

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