XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: felon@democrat.politicians.org   
      
   A Chicago Public Schools test question that had seventh-graders   
   read anti-immigration commentary by a fictitious Bush   
   administration official and conservative writer whose name   
   sounds like controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio has been   
   scrubbed from the curriculum — and officials say the whole thing   
   was a misunderstanding.   
      
   The nation’s third-largest school district pulled the question   
   from its online database earlier this month after a total of 32   
   seventh-graders from two classes took the REACH Performance   
   tests, which are administered to measure student growth and   
   teacher effectiveness. This particular version of the exam asked   
   students to compare the authority of differing opinions on   
   immigration, including one written by "Arie Payo."   
      
   “I think it’s best to keep America for Americans and those who   
   know how to speak English properly,” it reads. “Save America for   
   those of us who know how to behave in law-abiding ways.”   
      
   "Sounds like my name. Why didn't they have the guts to use my   
   real name?"   
   - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio   
      
   Undocumented immigrants, according to the text, should “go back   
   to where they came from,” continues the text by Payo, who is   
   identified as a former aide to “President Bush’s Immigration   
   Taskforce” and a contributor to the nonexistent “Conservative   
   Journal.”   
      
   CPS spokesman Joel Hood confirmed to FoxNews.com Wednesday that   
   the question had already been scrubbed from its database and   
   insisted the “Arie Payo” character was not created with Arpaio   
   in mind, despite being near-homonyms.   
      
   “The ‘author’ of this blog post is completely fictitious and any   
   resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely   
   coincidental,” Hood wrote in an email.   
      
   That explanation, however, didn’t exactly move Arpaio or an   
   immigration advocate reached by FoxNews.com.   
      
   "Sounds like my name," the Maricopa County sheriff told   
   FoxNews.com by phone. "Why didn't they have the guts to use my   
   real name? If it is supposed to be me, why didn't they just use   
   my name?"   
      
   Arpaio, who began his career as a federal narcotics agent in   
   Chicago, volunteered to visit students there to discuss the   
   "very complex issue" of immigration, but questioned the   
   effectiveness of introducing the issue in such a political way.   
      
   "It's such a complex issue that even the president doesn't know   
   what he's talking about when it comes to immigration," Arpaio   
   continued. "So, what's this question about? Is it politics? Is   
   it propaganda? I don't know, but there's so many other good   
   programs to talk about with the kids. This is interesting."   
      
   Arpaio said he has no intention of reaching out to CPS   
   officials, but reiterated that his offer stands.   
      
   "If they want the real Joe Arpaio, they can give me a call," he   
   said. "I'd be glad to talk to the kids."   
      
   Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration   
   Reform, agreed with the outspoken sheriff whose office has   
   systemically racially profiled Latinos in its immigration and   
   traffic patrols, a judge ruled nearly a year ago. Arpaio denies   
   those allegations and has appealed the ruling.   
      
   “They either had him in mind, or it’s the world’s greatest   
   coincidence,” Dane said. “It’s an incendiary and politically   
   charged way to frame a question about a subject that students   
   should consider in a balanced way with a historical perspective."   
      
   Dane also questioned the value of using a public official for   
   the sake of parody — regardless of any implicit or implied   
   similarities to Arpaio — adding that even the fictitious   
   character “Arie Payo” was characterized as a former aide to   
   President Bush and was posited as a staunch anti-immigration   
   advocate.   
      
   “This is the antithesis of what kids ought to be taught,” Dane   
   told FoxNews.com. “It’s biggest sin is interjecting a   
   deliberately partisan perspective on immigration. We need a   
   bipartisan approach and we’ll never get there like this.”   
      
   Edwin Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union   
   of Illinois, said it’s clear the question was a “fairly   
   misguided” approach to test persuasive argument in our nation’s   
   current immigration debate.   
      
   “There are a number of voices on the subject that could have   
   been considered without reaching these extreme arguments,”   
   Yohnka wrote in an email.   
      
   CPS officials, meanwhile, have replaced the exercise altogether.   
      
   “REACH Performance tests are prepared by a team of CPS   
   librarians and teachers in partnership with CTU to help measure   
   teacher effectiveness inside the classroom, and this specific   
   exercise was intended for students to evaluate the authority and   
   point of view of sources,” CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in   
   a statement obtained by FoxNews.com. “Teaching children the   
   importance of diversity, acceptance and independent thinking are   
   important values at CPS. We apologize for any misunderstanding   
   and have provided librarians an alternative test to administer   
   to students.”   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/29/chicago-education-officials-   
   remove-incendiary-immigration-question/   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)