The summer reading list for Gene Ponder's AP Government and Economics class at Spanish Fort High School in Alabama is causing some trouble.
Mr. Ponder filled his list with books authored by conservatives -- and libertarians. I know â€" right? Imagine that - a conservative public school teacher! Sweet mercy, America! Miracles do happen.Â
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Mr. Ponder’s summer reading list was a bonus assignment and included writers like Ann Coulter and Mark Levin and Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell.
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For the past 10 years, he’s instructed the students to spend a portion of their summer reading just one book on the list.
Mr. Ponder was providing the children with an alternative to the liberal propaganda that has saturated public school textbooks.
It was voluntary, not mandatory.
They could choose from books like “God & Government,†“Black Rednecks and White Liberals,†“Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto,†“FairTax: The Truth,†and “48 Liberal Lies About American History (That You Probably Learned in School).â€
In other words, Mr. Ponder was providing the children with an alternative to the liberal propaganda that has saturated public school textbooks.
Well, you can probably guess what happened soon after the reading list was posted. The flat-tax hit the fan, as they say.
One local resident actually called the conservative authors “terrifying.â€
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Gulf Coast News Today reports critics complained about what they called the “perceived lack of diversity of ideas, as well as whether it met the reading levels required for a 12th grade AP class.â€
If those kids were reading Mark Levin books, they were more than likely reading well-above the Advanced Placement requirements.
“The slant on this list is inappropriate and unbalanced,†one person wrote on Facebook â€" demanding a “more rounded reading list for these developing minds.â€
The Baldwin County Board of Education got wind of the controversy and faster than you can say left wing censorship â€" Mr. Ponder was ordered to pull his reading list and cancel the assignment.
“Mr. Ponder’s reading list that is going around on social media has not been endorsed by the school system,†Supt. Eddie Tyler said in a statement. “The list has been removed by the teacher. Baldwin County Public Schools has a process to vet and approve reading lists so that a variety of sources are used. I expect all employees to follow our processes, procedures and policies.â€
Yeah, right.
Why do I get the feeling the controversy surrounding Mr. Ponder’s reading list was more about politics instead of procedures?
Next year Mr. Ponder should have the kids read my book â€" “The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again.†That ought to give the youngsters a jaw-dropping dose of reality.
I'd recommend memorizing the chapter on how public schools have been transformed into left-wing indoctrination centers or in some cases â€" reeducation camps.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.†Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.
