{"id":1752,"date":"2011-09-29T14:24:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T18:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=1752"},"modified":"2011-11-26T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2011-11-26T16:57:11","slug":"%e2%80%9ccivil-rights-education-boils-down-to-two-people-four-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2011\/09\/29\/%e2%80%9ccivil-rights-education-boils-down-to-two-people-four-words\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCivil Rights Education Boils Down To Two People, Four Words”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SuperStock<\/p>

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks are the two most common civil right's figures K-12 students learn about.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

When it comes to teaching K-12 students about the nation’s civil rights movement, more than half of U.S. states are failing,\u00a0according to a new study by the\u00a0Southern Poverty Law Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the study, “Teaching the Movement: The State of Civil Rights Education 2011”<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance\u00a0arm looked at each state’s required education standards and curriculum, and compared that to what civil rights historians consider core information about the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

Florida is one of three states who scored an “A” letter grade in civil rights education, along with Alabama and New York. But authors say there is still room for improvement in every state.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too many students, their civil rights education boils down to two people and four words: Rosa Parks, Dr. King and \u2018I have a dream,\u2019\u201d said Maureen Costello, SPLC\u2019s Teaching Tolerance<\/a> director. Costello said one of the most shocking findings is that educators make the movement “seem easy,” she said, because there is very little attention placed on opposition and racism.<\/p>\n

The Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n