Bill Rhodes and the Greenville Tea Party had two interesting and controversial guest speakers at their Thursday, August 14, meeting.
Few, the founder of South Carolina Parents Involved in Education (PIE), challenged the public education establishment and led a valiant battle against the implementation of the controversial Common Core Education Standards in South Carolina as candidate for Superintendent of Education.
Ravenel is a petition candidate and the “third man” in the race to challenge incumbent United States Senator Lindsey Graham in the November 2014 General Election.
Ravenel is a developer and builder from Charleston and former Republican State Treasurer. He was removed from the position as the result of drug charges. With his sentence served, he has decided to enter the race for senate as an independent.
Ravenel, a former conservative Republican, came across in his comments as being sort of a left-leaning libertarian, if there is such a label. He received enthusiastic applause when he struck clear disagreement with Graham, but drew a few blank stares when he described a muddled plan for dealing with the open border, illegal immigration problem.
Having become a television actor in recent years, some observers have concluded that he is not yet “ready for prime time” on the political stage. It is unclear what his strategy for defeating Graham is, if any. Some conservative Republicans who have decided they cannot vote for Graham are now convinced that neither can they vote for Ravenel.
It is more than eight weeks until the General Election and Ravenel has the personality, youth and good looks to become a viable candidate. At this point however, it is difficult to determine who his constituents would be.
Sheri Few lost her bid for South Carolina Superintendent of Education, but lost none of her enthusiasm for improving public education in the Palmetto State.
Her latest concern is what she describes as the “New Anti-American AP U. S. History course, that is in the process of being required in all high schools.
The College Board website states that the redesigned AP U. S. History course “dovetails with the Common Core State Standards for reading and writing literacy.”
Stanle Kurtz of National Review writes that, “The new AP U. S. History framework effectively forces teachers to train their students in a leftist, blame -America-first reading of history, while omitting traditional treatments of our founding principles.”
Few emphasized in her presentation that, “The College Board’s reinterpretation of U. S. History, as presented in the new AP U. S. History course, is a biased and inaccurate view of many important facets of American history, including the motivations and actions of 17th -19th -century settlers, American involvement in World War II, and the conduct of, and victory in the Cold War.
“Almost every Founding Father is omitted -no Jefferson,Adams, Madison, or Franklin. The AP U. S. history Framework excludes Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Saratoga, and Yorktown. The commanders and heroes of these pivotal battles are all omitted.
“A word search of the entire 98-page document will not find one military commander or one medal of Honor recipient. Our best and brightest students will thus learn nothing of the heroism and sacrifices of Americans in uniform.”
