<p>A friend of mine sent me an email this am with a link to an article from a UK paper on the IB and an uproar it has caused in a Pittsburgh suburban school district. I gave it to our IB coordinator and she said that the IB was growing very quickly in the US especially the South, she said i.e. California, Texas, Florida! She's French and I thought her version of the South funny! Are fights over keeping or implementing the program happening in other areas? Since it is a very expensive program to implement, I imagine some of it may have to do with expense. Not sure. Anyway, read on.....: )</p>
<p>It is indeed very popular in Texas. Parents love the fact that the IB program is a great ranking maximizer. Look at the state listed: Texas, California, Florida. Is it a coincidence that the same state have admissions based on high school rankings? Me think not!</p>
<p>Loved the comment that Advanced Placement is a "homegrown alternative" to IB!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Trombetta, the board member who has received death threats from angry parents, had further complained that the IB tests "were developed in a foreign country".
[/quote]
How true. It could undermine American chemistry departments if IB graduates began using elements like "aluminium" and "sulphur." :p</p>
<p>I used to frequent an IB forum. Perhaps a year ago a woman showed up with claims that IB is a socialist conspiracy and was torn to pieces in minutes.</p>
<p>My district is very fond of our IB program and our administration is very devoted. There is animosity from students not in IB, but no one claims IB is an evil Marxist plot. I certainly haven't had any experiences to support such a claim.</p>
<p>This is making the news. Another article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I don't know anything about that paper? </p>
<p>I have been watching this debacle unfold locally. </p>
<p>The new board members that voted the program out claim it is all about $$s, not ideology, although IB takes up a tiny part of the budget. </p>
<p>There were 1000 supporters at the school board meeting in favor of the program, and the board, primarily new board members still voted it out 5-4. There are only 20000 residents in the town!</p>
<p>also of interest: the only veteran board member that voted for the elimination of IB, Trombetta, sent out an email just prior to the November vote stating that stories regarding the possible elimination of the IB program were false. </p>
<p>All in an affluent, white collar suburb. Strange place...</p>
<p>Part of a concerted national plan:</p>
<p>"IB programs elsewhere also attacked as going against American values"</p>
<p>I should probably want to cry, but all I can do is laugh. :)</p>
<p>A socialist conspiracy? Marxist plot? Wow, I should go take another look. Maybe I should get my d. to enroll! ;)</p>
<p>Just learned today that I may be going to New Mexico for IB workshops this summer. I'm sure to get more info on this conspiracy!</p>
<p>Overseas:</p>
<p>I thought your going to NM was part of the conspiracy theory, not just to get more info :) and should you not change your screenname, too, in order to avoid suspicion? How un-American to live overseas :(</p>
<p>I live in central New York State. My school district and the one next door are the only ones in the area that offer IB - and that's at the high school level. In our school, only a small number of students go for the full IB diploma, but many, many kids take individual IB classes. There has never been any controversy.</p>
<p>In the next county over, however, the largest school district tried to introduce IB into the middle school. There was such a big uproar, with parents making the same kinds of claims cited above (socialist, one-world government, un-American), that the district dropped the idea. I dont know anything about IB in middle school, but I think this district was going to introduce the curriculum for all students, rather than simply making it available to those who wanted that kind of education. I suspect thats a lot of what fueled the controversy.</p>
<p>Marite, I know.....:(</p>
<p>Jds, Seems that the Middle Years Program does stir up more dust. I wonder why? We don't have it so I am not that familiar with it. I have two friends, one in Japan and one in Norway who teach in the Early Years Program. One likes it; one hates it. But I do know at our school we have had to modify much of what we do down the years to accommodate the IB track kids and impacting everyone else of course.</p>
<p>I received a baccalaureat, not an IB. Although the French education system has now embraced the concept of a middle school, preparation for the Baccalaureat does begin in 6th grade. That's when we were tracked and that's when we began learning our first of two foreign languages; the second began in 8th grade. So since the IB incorporates much of the philosophy of the baccalaureat, I assume that even if it does not start in middle school, it is bound to have an impact on the middle school curriculum. Additionally, whether under the new or the old system, 6th grade is when more is expected of students by way of classroom learning and homework. By contrast, the American middle school currriculum involves a great deal more reviewing and attention to social and personal development. This difference can be very unsettling to many families.</p>
<p>Yes, Mini . I was thinking the same thing to make my idealistic son stay in the IB program at his school ............he balks if I lock the door to the house ( we live in a rapidly changing inner city neighborhood ) as he feels our society should share more and per his request , we still drive our 10 years old Escort so we will not contribute garbage to the nearby junkyard (-:</p>
<p>Ah, I get it...it's not a Marxist plot at all. Horrors, Lafayette to our rescue, and we are turning him away.</p>
<p>"Yes, Mini . I was thinking the same thing to make my idealistic son stay in the IB program at his school ............he balks if I lock the door to the house."</p>
<p>Mine, after seeing the movie "Darwin's Nightmare" wrote an essay on the greater economic efficiency of the gift economy. A girl after my own heart! ;)</p>
<p>A lot of americans can't see past the end of their own noses. My d is in IB and I think it's great. It's a boat load of work, and that's why the colleges LOVE it. The acceptance rate for IB kids over others is VERY high. IB promotes world peace, the value of other societies, and being stewards to the environment, among other things. It's not for everyone as there is so much work--sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision. I hope it all pays off. I know she will look back on her High School years and realize what a good education she received.</p>
<p>My IB Chemistry HL teacher told me about this. I thought he was kidding. :eek:</p>
<p>I did the bilingual version of the MYP (History and Geography in French in 6th-8th grade, though I entered in 7th) and found it to be a rigorous and worthwhile program. I'm now in the French/English Bilingual Diploma, and I love it... the workload does at times get overwhelming, though.</p>