“The ‘War on Christmas’ just got a whole lot wider.”

 Kentucky school officials poised to change
B.C./A.D. dating system

LEXINGTON, KY – A family advocacy group today criticized state education officials for trying to change the traditional B.C./A.D. dating system in the state’s new school guidelines. The current State School Board, made up of mostly lame duck members, is scheduled to vote on the issue at their meeting in Frankfort tomorrow.

“The ‘War on Christmas’ just got a whole lot wider,” said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for The Family Foundation of Kentucky.  “This is an attempt to religiously sterilize the teaching of history in our schools.  What is the compelling reason to eliminate the traditional B.C./A.D. dating system we have had for almost 2,000 years in favor of the politically correct B.C.E./C.E. system?”

The new “Program of Studies,” a document designed to guide state schools in curricular matters, would change A.D. (“Anno Domini,” Latin for, “in the year of the Lord”) to C.E. (the “common era”), and B. C. (“Before Christ”) to B.C.E. (“Before the Common Era”).  The changes are being made in a new version of the state’s “Program of Studies,” a document that governs what is taught in Kentucky schools. 

“Not only will this lead to confusion on the part of students, but this is a not-so-subtle way of hiding the substantial influence of religion in the history of Western civilization. In recent years we have seen more and more attempts to hide the influence of religion in our history.  Our schools should not be in the business of hiding things from students; it should be in the business of revealing things to them.  For the State School Board to pass this would put them in the role of promoting ignorance, not fighting it.”

“We would hope,” said Cothran, “that, in the interest of open government, the State School Board would allow for more time for issues like this to be discussed before a vote is taken.”

The Program of Studies document was apparently kept close to the vest by the Kentucky Department of Education and was not made available in complete form to the public prior to the issuance of the School Board agenda documents for this week’s meeting.  The document is scheduled to be approved at tomorrow’s meeting of the State School Board, seven of whose members are to be replaced next month by new Fletcher administration appointees. 

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Martin Cothran is the senior policy analyst for The Family Foundation, a nonprofit public policy organization that works on behalf of the family and the values that make families strong.