Dive Summary:

• An administrative law judge will soon decide if Minnesota schools can begin teaching the state Department of Education's revised social studies standards this fall.
• The massive overhaul to the standards was two years in the making, and critics say it favors an "America the Ugly" narrative that focuses too much on slavery and the oppression of Native Americans and not enough on "American exceptionalism," though some social studies teachers see the complaints as a conservative attempt to "indoctrinate students with ideological and religious values."
• Beth Aune, the state Education Department's director of academic standards, says the revision favors research and expertise over religious texts and special interests, calling them a "balanced narrative of the American story" that calls attention to America's progress as well as its setbacks.

From the article:

Far from the classroom, an intense but nearly invisible battle is being waged for the hearts and minds of Minnesota's schoolchildren. The fight is over how history and other social studies topics will be taught, long a flashpoint for political strife in Minnesota. At issue is the state Department of Education's proposed revision of social studies standards -- a massive overhaul two years in the making. ...