A Coeur d'Alene Press story Wednesday reported that the school district had concerns about the performance of students in the International Baccalaureate and advanced placement programs at the Coeur d'Alene high schools. Trustee Tom Hamilton discussed this with a handful of us hung around after the 2011 Hucks Fallfest with Addy & Geoff ended. I noticed he's discussing the topic with Press commenters in a lengthy thread from the article above. He comments: “While there are differences in the approach taken, both programs are designed to challenge advanced learners. Students who will succeed in an IB program will also be successful in an AP program. However, the IB v. AP issue has been argued from ideology and emotion by BOTH sides of the debate and not from a true evaluation of the performance and cost of the program. For this reason, I have asked that the district make available to the public a complete picture of the program which should include academic performance, the true costs of both programs, enrollment numbers, trends, historical and on-going fees / costs, etc.” Tom's full comment at 8:06 Wednesday here.

Question: Do you consider the International Baccalaureate program in local high schools to be valuable?

Not for the first time we have protesters — this time in Idaho — trying to get the International Baccalaureate program tossed out of schools because, they say, it is, anti-American. Usually the most serious threat to the IB is its sort-of rival, the Advanced Placement program. But allegations that the international education program is not only anti-American but also Marxist and anti-Christian have led to controversies in recent years in several states, including Utah, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The program isn’t any of the things the protesters say it is. IB is a rigorous program for students ages 3 to 19, now in about 3,000 schools, in 139 countries, that teaches students to understand issues from an international perspective/Valerie Strauss, The Answer Sheet, Washington Post. More here.

H/T: Nick Adams

Question: Are you surprised that the local protest has caught the attention of the Washington Post?