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July 10, 2007
What's in a name?In these times of political correctness, it's often difficult for school districts to name a new school. What historical figure to choose? Which person will cause the least amount of controversy? How to keep the whole community satisfied?
Some school districts in Virginia have managed to sidestep this political landmine by choosing to name its schools not after people, but scenic, geographic, or patriotic titles. Jay Mathews at the Washington Post covers the story today here.
Part of the problem, according to a recent study and some Northern Virginia school officials, is that presidents, particularly the more recent ones, and other well-known people tend to be controversial, whereas few Americans have bad things to say about rivers, lakes, forests or freedom.
Additionally,
According to a new Manhattan Institute for Policy Research study, impersonal school-naming practices are a national trend. Three researchers found that 45 percent of public schools built in New Jersey before 1948 were named after people, compared with 27 percent of schools built after 1988. Similar patterns were found in Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
So BoardBuzz guesses that means you can kiss J.F.K. High goodbye and say hello to Maple Tree Middle School. What's happening with school names in your district? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
Posted July 10, 2007 5:33 PM | School Boards
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Comments(2)
Posted by: Anne Lace on July 12, 2007 10:13 PM
We name them after subdivisions to be safe. We had one middle school named for a deceased teacher which passed the board's approval with no problem. Then when our county got ready to name more schools, disagreements broke out; therefore, everything is named after trees, forests, rivers, and subdivisions which are named after trees, forests, and rivers.
Posted by: portrait painting artist on July 17, 2007 5:01 AM
Our place is famous for memorial schools. These schools are built in memory of this and that person. We couldn’t change these schools because to whom this school is dedicated is the very person who spent for the construction of the school.
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