Wingnuttery on the March!

From suburban Pittsburgh:

After a tumultuous week of community debate and heavy news media coverage, the Upper St. Clair school board voted last night to eliminate the district's International Baccalaureate program before an angry and vocal crowd of about 1,000 people.

[...]

Founded in 1968, the program aims to give students a world perspective and develop critical thinking skills. Upper St. Clair is the only district in the region to use the curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels. About 700 students participate in it. Schenley High School and Vincentian Academy in McCandless also use the curriculum.

[...]

School Superintendent Dr. James D. Lombardo urged the board not to kill the program. "I do hope that your decision tonight is not to eliminate the program because that is certainly not my recommendation."

But board member Dr. Daniel Iracki, a leader of the faction that voted against the program, said he was elected as part of a slate of candidates who promised to reduce district expenditures. "We promised to be fiscally responsible," Dr. Iracki said.

Dr. Iracki and other newly elected members of the board expressed opposition to the program on the grounds that it is Marxist, anti-Christian, un-American and too costly. [Emphasis added]

UPDATE: In comments Rob points out that the same campaign against IB was waged in Minnesota last year. I'll have to look into this subject a bit more.


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