Dreyfus and the meeting On Martha's Vineyard about teaching Civics

[Sydnie]

For those that hadn't heard about this, Dreyfus appeared on Bill Maher's show this past Friday and he discussed a meeting that is to be held with the Martha's Vineyard school system concerning the need to bring the teaching of Civics back into the classroom. To that end, I wrote to the Martha's Vineyard newspaper to see if I could get anymore information about this meeting. Here is the response I received from them this morning.
-------

Dear Sydnie,
This is what I got from the superintendent's office...
Best,
Rachel Nava Rohr

Folks

In case you are getting questions about the Richard Dryfuss Civics
conference, it is being held at the Katherine Cornell Theater in Tisbury
on December 6th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. We are still working out all the
details; however, it appears that Richard discussed the conference on
national TV and we are getting calls. The idea is for Richard and a group
of knowledgeable civics education folks to discuss the importance of
teaching civisc and come up with a list of follow-up ideas to get the
topic back into the curriculum in a bigger way.

We hope to have the conference available on MVTV and on the web, but
details are still being worked out at this time. I will have a list of the
"important people" who will be in attendance, but I have been told that
Richard asked people like George Will and Bob Bennett to attend.

I'll keep you posted.

Jim

James H. Weiss, EdD
Superintendent of Schools
Martha's Vineyard Public Schools



The Martha's Vineyard Civics Conference

What is Civics?
Is it necessary?
If it is necessary can we revive it?
If we revive it then how do we do it and when?

The Martha's Vineyard Public Schools and Richard Dreyfuss invite you to
join a Conversation about Civics.

In America, the public schools were founded to educate young people and
produce capable citizens for the country. Today, testing is driving the
curriculum making it inevitable that schools have reduced or dropped
civics instruction. This reduction in focus has all but eliminated the
tools necessary to run a democracy: dissent, debate, logic, reason,
civility and critical thinking. While many national leaders and educators
have discussed the importance of teaching such tools, few are able to do
anything to fix what is potentially a crisis of epic proportion. Richard
Dreyfuss and the Martha's Vineyard Public Schools would like to bring this
conversation into focus and discuss the necessity of teaching such tools.

To start this important process, we are inviting a select group of
educators, administrators, students, scholars and members of the community
to participate in the discussion with hopes to develop and pilot a project
on Martha's Vineyard using technology and storytelling to engage, inform
and inspire a new generation of Americans in what it takes to be a citizen
of a true democracy.

Please join us on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from 7 - 9 PM at the
Katharine Cornell Theater, (Tisbury Town Hall) 51 Spring Street, Vineyard
Haven, MA.

We will be filming the event: A signed release will be required.
Refreshments will be served.

Please call the Office of the Superintendent of Schools at 508.693.2007 to
confirm your attendance.
---------

Bolding is mine so people don't miss that they are attempting to get it on the web as well. The noted "guests" in the email don't thrill me at all, but Dreyfus should be able to make quite a good case for this addition and that should be worth watching.

[hippiechick]

1. dumb question here: is Dreyfuss an (R) ?

:shrug:

[Sydnie]

2. I don't think so

If he is, he gets it better than any other (R) I have ever heard speak.

[demnan]

3. I'm sure he isn't

But on the issue of Civics (or in Virginia it's called "Government") all the high school seniors have to take it. They are required to donate time to a public service. Many choice as their event the Democratic Party and worked as volunteers for the Webb-Hurst-Pandak effort in Prince William County.

We received loads of help from them.

[Sydnie]

4. We don't have anything like that in Mass at all

I hope this sets things in motion for all of our systems.

[blogslut]

6. Let his political contributions be your guide

http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Richard_Dreyfuss.php

[hippiechick]

8. Sigh of relief.

I've always liked him :) it would have been a wierd reality check if he was one of them.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. That would be odd as he has spoken out at anti-war demonstrations. I

understand why you might question him as a Repug because the letter mentions Bob Bennett and George Will. Maybe Dreyfus wants them there so he can whip their tushes????

[Sydnie]

10. I think he might want them there so that they all can agree

that it needs to be taught. Figuring out just how it's going to be taught will be interesting.

[gauguin57]

5. Dreyfuss recently went back to college to study how to better teach civics in high schools.

Seems to me he went to Oxford or Cambridge, or somewhere else in the UK (he and Martin Sheen went back to school at about the same time -- Sheen has been studying at Trinity in Dublin, I believe).

Anyway, I doubt Richard is an R. He's always seemed pretty liberal to me. His mother was a civil rights activist, I believe (not that that necessarily means the apple fell near the tree, but ...)

[Sydnie]

7. It was Oxford

I remember seeing him give a speech from there, in the robes and all, before the 2004 election and was wowed by it. He had been invited to be the speaker for some annual event.

I didn't know Sheen went back to school too. That's great. Hope they join forces.

[annabanana]

11. I was very impressed by his appearance on Real Time.

I was never terribly blown away by his acting chops, but he is doing good work now. I agree with him 100% that Civics is a discipline that is NECESSARY to keep the concept of government of, by & for the people from dying off.

Americans have forgotten that they're in the midst of a unique experiment in governance.