East Lansing schools apologizes for slavery assignment
Tianna Jenkins, WYSM, April 2021
By: Tianna Jenkins
and last updated 2021-04-19 17:00:45-04
EAST LANSING, Mich. â East Lansing Public Schools is planning to change its curriculum after a homework assignment on slavery came under criticism from parents.
The assignment asked students to imagine how they would feel as slaves in several different circumstances. Parents said the assignment was insensitive and even traumatizing for Black students. We don t make any defense on this assignment, but it s completely wrong, and, and we re not going to waste any time trying to defend it or talk about our intentions or any of those kinds of things. It was an inappropriate assignment it was a hurtful assignment, said Director of Curriculum Glenn Mitcham.
A homework assignment on slavery drew sharp criticism after its graphic imagery distressed at least one Black family in East Lansing Public Schools.
Chelsea Wade said her daughter, an eighth grader at MacDonald Middle School, completed an assignment during Black History Month that presented violent images and descriptions of slaves, slave quarters and rebellions, then asked students to imagine themselves as enslaved people.
The assignment traumatized her daughter and the entire family, Wade said.
One exercise on the three-page worksheet showed students a photo of a slave rebellion in which a Black man is strangling a white man. It then asked: Imagine you were one of these enslaved persons. Describe what would bring you to the point of fighting back.
Michigan schools prep for a testing season like no other Mark Johnson, Lansing State Journal
LANSING In a fitting end to a school year like none other, Michigan students are preparing for the annual M-STEP but it’s unclear whether they ll actually have to take it.
The window for schools to administer the state’s standardized test for third through eighth graders runs April 12 to May 21. But lawmakers and educators want the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, known as the M-STEP, called off for a second straight year.
State and local officials last year opposed administering the test, arguing against the idea of testing while COVID-19 upended Michigan s public schools. They continue to oppose it, but some argue the assessments will help schools determine where students need to catch up and canceling the test would hinder their ability to give students that specific assistance.
Michigan schools prep for a testing season like none other lansingstatejournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lansingstatejournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
East Lansing Public School board votes to bring back in-person classes Photo by Lauren Snyder | The State News
The East Lansing Public School board voted to certify the Extended Continuity of Learning Plan in its Jan. 25 meeting to bring students back to in-person instruction by the beginning of March if they so choose.
Parents may choose to continue remote learning.
After over an hour of parents, teachers and students voicing their opinions and concerns to the board, this plan was certified in a vote of six-to-one, with board trustee Debbie Walton being the only vote against.
An initial plan to phase students back into in-person instruction was changed when East Lansing Public School teachers began getting the COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 18. This new plan, presented