City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott yesterday defended his agency’s approval of a new curriculum that includes books with images of war and bombs for use in third grade.
Walcott emphasized that the ultimate decision on using the material rests with principals, but suggested that schools were the right forum for kids to learn about serious topics like conflict.
“They see it on the news on a regular basis,” Walcott said after a school visit in East Harlem. “As a school system, we have a responsibility to make sure that they have the opportunity to discuss these things and learn about it and have structured teaching around it.”
He added that if parents have concerns, they should take them to the school community as principals begin selecting reading materials in coming weeks.
Two controversial nonfiction books, “The Librarian of Basra” and “Nasreen’s Secret Schools,” are part of the newly approved state and city English curriculum for grades 3 to 5.
They were created by Expeditionary Learning — the nonprofit arm of Outward Bound — under a $1.7 million grant from the state’s Education Department.
Their aim, in part, is to align the state with new national “Common Core” standards, which stress using challenging nonfiction texts.
But some educators and parents said they’re concerned about the age when pupils will encounter the themes and images — including falling bombs and a young man being abducted from his home by gun-toting soldiers.
“I would probably complain to the school if my children brought home these images,” said Lucy Roman, the mom of a first- and third-grader at PS 102 in Bay Ridge. “To me, a child should be a child . . . I don’t think it’s appropriate for an 8-year-old.”
Other parents were less wary, as long as schools “tread gently.”
“There is a worry about keeping [them innocent] at this age — and how much they need to know,” said Christine Greenwoody, who has three kids at PS 110 in Greenpoint.
The celebrated Manhattan author of both books, Jeanette Winter, called the content suitable for all school-age kids.
“I think children are very aware and they can handle things better than a lot of adults think they can,” Winter said.