SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -
A Bossier Parish mom is speaking to KSLA News 12 after she says her daughter was sent home with an inappropriate homework assignment.
Her daughter is an 8th grade student at Haughton Middle School. She says her daughter was asked to write a thank you letter to Abraham Lincoln for freeing slaves, and to journal how it would feel to be a slave who worked in the house or field as a part of a Social Studies class assignment.
"How can a 14 or 13 year old child wrap their minds around a slave being on the outside or a slave being on the inside?" she says.
When we asked the Bossier Parish School officials about these two assignments they told us the teacher at Haughton High School did nothing wrong. They also said both of the assignments are approved by the Louisiana Department of Education.
However, only one of the assignments is listed on the state's list of approved writing assignments.
This is the response we received from the Louisiana Department of Education when we asked about these assignments.
"This assignment has been part of the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum for years. Currently, we are changing our approach to curriculum. Louisiana Believes is about putting power in the hands of teachers to lead this change. That's why we have ended the top-down curriculum and will instead equip educators with tools and let teachers use these tools to make decisions as to what's right for students. If we empower teachers to make choices about curriculum and lesson planning, they will show us the way."
The parent tells KSLA News 12 she is not upset about the topic, but is upset because she says her daughter has not been properly taught about the subject before being asked to write about it in this matter.
"If they are going to teach it, and it is in the curriculum that's fine, but teach it right," she says.
Copyright 2013 KSLA. All rights reserved.
