NYC students to receive lessons on reparations, abolishing the police

(The Center Square) – Public school students in New York City will receive lessons critical of capitalism and asserting that Black Americans should receive reparations, that student loans are equivalent to “debt peonage,” the tenets of the Black Lives Matter movement and arguments for abolishing the police.  The 520-page Black Studies Curriculum, which is being implemented by New York City Public Schools this fall, provides lesson plan outlines for teachers on controversial topics like the case for reparations, voter ID laws and the difference between defunding, reforming and abolishing the police. While many of the topics discussed would likely not be considered controversial, there are some classroom discussions that seem to be driven by stating controversial viewpoints as fact. Included in the document for 11th-grade students are lesson objectives focused on reparations for Black Americans and the different arguments for reforming, defunding and abolishing the police.  “Students will be able to understand the need for reparations through the historical system of debt peonage, and its resurfaced form via student loan debt,” a Grade 11 plan overview objective reads. The lesson defines debt peonage from Webster’s Dictionary as “The use of laborers bound in servitude because of debt” or a “A...