Opinion: New science curriculum proposed for local schools is questionable
– The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board delayed the adoption of a K-5 science curriculum because they questioned the sponsors of the curriculum, the validity to what was being taught, and the fact that stakeholders such as the parents were not sought out to give input on the committee that was formed to look at the new curriculum choices.
On January 24, 2023, the PRJUSD Board of Trustees was faced with adopting a new science curriculum for K-5th graders. The curriculum was formulated by TWIG Science, which was recently acquired by Imagine Learning, LLC, and had been under consideration by a select committee of teachers since 2021. No parental stakeholders were sought out to be on the committee. Students whose parents stay involved in school have better attendance and behavior, get better grades, demonstrate better social skills and adapt better to school. That is why it is so important to have parent involvement at all levels. Parents need to demand that the district better involve them.
While the teachers unanimously recommended adoption of the TWIG Science curriculum, 3 out of 5 School Board Trustees weren’t so sure. One reason they weren’t so sure was because not enough effort was put into asking parents for their thoughts on the prospective curriculum. Parents had the ability to review the curriculum for two weeks at the beginning of December 2022. The review was limited to the hours of 7:30 AM-4:30 PM, Monday-Friday, at the district office. An email (through ParentSquare) was sent to all PRJUSD families to notify them that the curriculum was available for review at the district office. It was found that no one had come to review the curriculum. Multiple parents in the school district claim that they received no such email. One email from the district during the busiest season of year during work hours is not enough to show a good faith effort.
Trustee Joel Peterson said that we should just do whatever the staff recommends with no regard to wanting to know more about the questions that were raised. It is this kind of disregard to logical conclusions that split the board.
Following a glowing but uncritical review of the TWIG Science Curriculum by the presenting teacher, Trustee Laurene McCoy started asking some uncomfortable questions about whether this curriculum was really “hands-on,” and whether it simply promoted “social and emotional learning” under the guise of science.
“I feel like the children are already looking at a screen. And the fact that it’s very screen-heavy, I’m just not necessarily for that. I feel like science is supposed to teach our children how to examine things and observe nature so that they can build knowledge on how the world works,” said Trustee McCoy.
Trustee Dorian Baker followed up by pointing out that the TWIG curriculum claims that it takes 50 gallons of water to produce one egg. Trustee Baker has been raising chickens for 7 years and, in her experience, 20-30 chickens might go through 10 gallons per week. The fact that no teacher thought to question the TWIG fact is indicative of what is wrong with public education in general.
“It almost seems as if there is an agenda that meat-based protein sources are inefficient, take too much water, and should be avoided. I consider this to be political and we should be guarding against the politicization of the curriculum and we should be advocating for curricula that is well-sourced and scientifically accurate and transparent,” said Baker.
Despite the fact that a committee of 23 teachers unanimously recommended this program with no input from parents, Trustees McCoy and Baker also raised enough questions about whether the TWIG Science curriculum was trustworthy that Trustee Williams joined them, and adoption of it was delayed three more weeks. The next hearing on this item will be on February 14, 2023.
Erin Westmoreland, communications director
Moms for Liberty, San Luis Obispo Chapter
Editor’s note: Opinion pieces and letters to the editor are the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Paso Robles Daily News or its staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.
