> It does not take much to find out what rights the labor movement
> etc. has won for us, if one has one's act together.
One subject that is kept out of school curricula is the subject of rights and entitlements -- rights we have as citizens, workers, consumers, and so on, social programs to which we are entitled, and how to claim both. That's what teachers should be required by law to teach. E.g., "Approximately one of every five children eligible for Medicaid coverage is medically uninsured" (at <http://www.urban.org/ Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=7389>). There should be classes called "Rights and Entitlements" in which teachers help children (and their parents) fill out application forms to Medicaid, etc. while teaching them about the history of social movements that won them their rights and entitlements.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org> * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud- ahmadinejads-face.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez- congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/ 2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>