Council Approves Book by “Marxist” Howard Zinn for High Schools

Today City Council approved two schools-related resolutions. 1. Include  Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” in Philly high schools’ curriculum; 2. Mandate that every school has a nurse in the building. The Inky‘s Troy Graham has a nice tweet hinting at the relative ease with which each of these resolutions will be implemented.

Which is more likely to be found in every high school in coming years? School nurses or Howard Zinn's book?

— Troy Graham (@troyjgraham) October 24, 2013

My reading: Books are cheaper than nurses, but the school can’t afford either right now. By the way, the book—a left-wing, populist chronicle of American history—is a great way to teach kids that this country’s past is much more than a bunch of dead, white guys signing documents. That said, many consider Zinn, a self-described Marxist, a deeply problematic historian in his own right. See this recent takedown in The New Republic, for example.

Finally, Graham, who’s in City Hall now, says the vote was unanimous. Yo Philly Republicans David Oh, Brian O’Neill, and Denny O’Brien! Where’s the obligatory nay?