Some parents concerned about booklet given to students in two Utah school districts

SALT LAKE CITY — Parents have been taking to social media to voice concerns about a booklet sent home for Constitution Day in school.

The booklet is titled “Why I Love America,” and parents of the Canyons and Alpine School Districts have raised concerns about what they call its overly simplified history of the United States.

Missi, a parent of a Canyons School District student, said she thought the booklet looked cute at first. But after reviewing it, she felt it left out some key points, such as the history of Indigenous people, slavery, women’s suffrage, and civil rights.

“It talks about how our Constitution gave power to the people, and it’s an inspiration around the globe, but it leaves out the amendments that demonstrate how powerful the power of the people actually is,” she said.

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“The next page spread, the actual start of the book, is titled ‘Before America,’ and it doesn’t mention the native people at all … It does simplify things quite a bit, but I feel like it’s pretty important to mention that there were people here.”

So some parents started a petition to, “pause on use of this booklet until a transparent review process is conducted.”

State Board, districts, respond to booklet concern

Ryan Bartlett, the Utah State Board of Education‘s director of strategic communication, said the booklet was just one of many educational materials sent to districts with the recommendation—not a requirement—that they could share with teachers and students.

“Every September, we’ll send out recommendations and some ideas of books that teachers can look at to share with their students, just to give them some more insight,” Bartlett said. “The State Board of Education wasn’t requiring that districts or charter schools specifically read this book.”

According to a statement from the Canyons School District, the booklet was not part of the approved materials provided to schools this year for Constitution Day. Instead, the district provided pocket-sized constitutions for its students.

In a statement provided by the Alpine School District, officials said, “The discussion led to a consideration, instead, to share a list of many resources with varying points of view, as we had done the previous year. In the end, we didn’t send any messages about Constitution Day resources.”

“The main concern that I’ve heard from other parents … is that we want our children to know the full story,” Missi said.

“The best thing (parents) could do would be to contact the school district and to voice their concerns that way,” Bartlett said. “We also have a public education hotline at the State Board of Education.”

Contributing: Michelle Lee

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