Dr. Daniel Iracki is the central conservative figure (he gave $500 to the RNC in 2000) in a Pennsylvania school district’s decision to destroy Upper St. Clair’s International Baccalaureate program. Today he claimed that the IB program was no better than the AP program (that is not true), but he previously gave a different reason for his opposition to the advanced education program.
But at last week’s lightly attended committee meeting, Iracki was telling a different story.
“The impetus for this in-depth look at the IB program occurred with the election of a new school board in November 2005, when my candidacy and the three other members of our slate were opposed by IB students principally because of my statement at the candidates forum that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values and we have to be careful about what kind of values our children are being taught,” Iracki said.
Iracki admitted what students have been alleging — that the program came under fire because of the election.
So when the conservative propaganda he used when campaigning for the school board was challenged, Iracki decided to exact his revenge by killing the IB program - but didn’t expect there to be any coverage of the issue, and changed his story — going so far as to mimic Soviet tactics to prevent the community from seeing the overwhelming disappointment of the parents and kids involved.
Team 4 has learned that school officials ordered that the cable television broadcast of this week’s board meeting to stop when the parents started criticizing the board.
The cable access channel usually airs the full meeting.
Iracki and the other conservatives on the board also claimed that the IB program was too expensive for the district, but here’s what he said about how well the schools were funded when he was running for office:
” I feel the current funding of the school district is sufficient to maintain the excellent education our children recieve.This is borne out in the many surveys & in the many achievements & awards our students and schools attain.”
So here’s the bottom line: Dr. Daniel Iracki and the other conservatives on the school board in Upper St. Clair simply eliminated the IB program because the kids didn’t believe his nonsense about IB being against Judeo-Christian values. When they eliminated the IB program, they have made up numerous stories to justify their decision because their original claim does not stand up to scrutiny.
This is a microcosm of how conservatism has attacked the means of progress in America. The IB program is all about academic achievement and progress, teaching our students the skills they need to win against global competition (there are funds for IB and AP in the most recent education package). Iracki and the cons are against it because it moves us forward.
>> “queenbahookie” is a PA student who just had her IB program destroyed. As she says “I can’t believe it.. It’s cut, gone, finished, destroyed. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
>> WIngnuts in the Backyard
>> Wingnuttery on the March!
>> Helene Schleine, another pissed of PA IB student: “I just thought I would reiterate my intense revulsion and hatred for 5/9ths of the Upper St. Clair school board”
>> “Accalia Rue” is an IB alumnus from Upper St. Clair: “The ib program costs around $80,000 dollars, and our school board has a budget of 50 million. Not to mention the fact that all of our teachers are provided with their own personal laptops, and the high school’s football team recently just replaced their astroturf, and gets carted around on coach buses.”
>> Pa: Behind the Curve or Cutting Edge?
>> Anti-Education Spirit Prevails in St. Clair
>> Another St. Clair student speaks
>> Video: Iracki’s lies caught on tape
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$500?!? Wow, he’s the next Richard Scaife!
Farris, as usual, can’t be bothered to address the substance of the comment.
Genius comment, Farris. Anything else?
What exactly is the IB program? Maybe it is just me, but I have never heard of it before and we certainly didn’t have it when I was in high school. Is this a national program or limited to the Pittsburgh area?
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« Dr. Daniel Iracki s War On Progress
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I’d comment on the substance, if there were any.
This Iracki guy must be a Rove Plant. How else do you explain that Oliver is now crying for “School Choice”?!? I guess it’s time for vouchers so these poor Pittsburgh kids can escape the oppresive regime of their local public school.
Oh, and the strongest argument I would have against IB is if it’s not as effective as other programs. However, Oliver’s link does no such thing, only that one school system has seen success with it (good for them!), nothing about the overal effectiveness of the program and how it compares with AP.
It’s an international program, and is available all over the U.S. This has nothing to do with “school choice”, just the right-wing intolerance for intellectualism.
[...] er St. Clair School District in an effort to keep International Baccalaureate Program. >> Previous coverage
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He just resigned - check out this article.
And Upper St. Clair is not some boondock school district filled with Bible-bangers - they’re solidly upper-middle to upper-class suburbia, which in Pittsburgh is not filled with fundies.