The Blaze – by The South Carolina school district currently utilizing a U.S. history textbook with a disputed interpretation of the Second and Third Amendments responded to TheBlaze’s exclusive report in great detail on Wednesday.
In an emailed statement, a spokesman for Greenville County Schools confirmed that Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville, S.C., has received “several emails and phone calls” expressing concern over how the textbook, “The Americans,” defines the Second Amendment.
Oby G. Lyles, Sr., the director of communications at Greenville County Schools, told TheBlaze that the district has “looked into the matter and found that page 149 of the state-adopted textbook does not accurately present the Second Amendment.”
“It states that citizens have the right to bear arms as members of a militia of citizen-soldiers,” he added. “This is not accurate. We will inform our high school social studies teachers that they should refer to page 166 of the textbook which accurately presents the Amendment (as originally ratified).”
Screengrab via Facebook
The textbook, considered by the American Textbook Council (ATC) to be a “widely adopted” history book across the country, is also “state-adopted” in South Carolina, TheBlaze has learned. In other words, Hillcrest High School is far from the only school impacted.
But that could potentially change soon — at least in South Carolina.
Lyles informed TheBlaze that the “State Department of Education (DOE) was notified of this issue so they can take appropriate action.” Any future action will be determined by the state DOE.
As TheBlaze exclusively reported on Tuesday, the high school-level history textbook defines the Second Amendment as “the right to bear arms as members of a state militia.” The book also strangely groups the Second and Third Amendments together in a confusing way that could easily be misconstrued as to mean the right to bear arms is directly linked to preventing the government from housing troops during peacetime, which is not the case.
The Second amendment as ratified by the U.S. reads [emphasis added]: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The Third Amendment reads: “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” The latter part of the amendment concerning wartime was omitted in a portion of the textbook.
Teachers in the Greenville County school district will be instructed that page 149 of the textbook, which includes the faulty information, is entirely “incorrect,” and that they should direct students to a different page that he says contains the accurate definitions.
Lyles also noted that several emails sent to the principal of Hillcrest High School referenced the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). “Please note this textbook was adopted in 2005, long before any discussion of the CCSS,” he explained. ”Most of our high schools use this textbook.”
TheBlaze revealed the connection between Common Core and Perfection Learning, the publisher of a different advanced placement history book that also linked gun rights directly to membership in a state militia. The book is titled, “United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination.”
However, we have found no information indicating that the publisher of “The Americans,” Rand McNally, develops its educational material around Common Core standards.
Lyles said officials at Greenville County Schools are also working to determine if any of its schools use the aforementioned AP history book.
“If so, we will also notify high schools,” he told TheBlaze.
Changing even one word of the Constitution can only be viewed as an attempt to subvert it, and we knew this would happen sooner or later.
Any textbook should re-print it exactly as it was written instead of providing definitions, or summaries of what the various articles state or mean.
The textbook’s publishers should be arrested for this obvious attempt at subversion of our form of government.
Subversion? Screw that. TREASON is more the word for it. How hard is it to just reprint the Bill of Rights?
The board of education will use the excuse, “Well, it’s too complex for young learners, so we are just toning it down a bit and summarizing the main idea.” and to themselves, “Our Communist Core main idea, that is.”.
Arrest and hang them for TREASON!
So where is this garbage being printed? Not hard to stop a printing press!