The Examiner U-46 News Feed

U-46 curriculum items set for vote at board meeting

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 is set to vote on a series of curriculum items at its upcoming meeting on Monday, June 21. The items were presented on June 7.
  The highest costing of three curriculum proposals is for Latinx Studies (estimated to cost $132,080), an Honors Spanish Language Arts course for seniors. Latinx is a recently made up term made by activists groups to avoid gender, Latino and Latina, for the gender confused.
  Annette Acevedo, director of English language learners, said the course is designed to make “our students feel affirmed” and “our decision for this title is about equity and inclusion.”
  “Latinx is a gender neutral or nonbinary inclusive alternative to the term Latina or Latino with origins within the LGBTQ community,” Acevedo said and claimed it is “widely used among youth.”
  A recent poll by Think Now, which acknowledges its bias for the term, admitted 98 percent of Latino Americans opposed the Latinx word including 97 percent aged 18 to 34.
  The proposal states “students will explore the context and history of how Latinx identity and representation (e.g., race, gender, class, ethnicity, language, etc.) is shaped and influenced in the Americas (the United States and beyond).”
  The board largely applauded the course, Veronica Noland saying “we need more of this.”
  With an estimated cost of $82,121 over six years, the INCubatoredu curriculum was proposed as part of Streamwood High School’s Leadership Entrepreneurship Action Design Academy.
  “INCubatoredu is a highly engaging, student-centered entrepreneurship course that guides students through the development, testing, refinement of a business plan of their own design. Students work with local business people who are able to provide expert guidance based on their own professional experiences,” said Mitchell Briesemeister, director of educational pathways. “The course culminates with a pitch night where students pitch their business to an expert panel for the opportunity to be awarded seed money for use in launching their enterprises.”
  Also proposed is a specialized student services Study Skills curriculum, estimated to cost $7,940, for underclassmen in special education. The curriculum is designed to update the current Study Skills course to align with a standards-based curriculum.