Board seeks views on date markers C.E., B.C.E

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Board seeks views on date markers C.E., B.C.E

By Nancy C. Rodriguez, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), May 30, 2006

Some say it's simply an attempt to keep Kentucky education current with changes in educational institutions and college-entrance exams.

Others call it political correctness run amok, an attempt to further "religiously sterilize" public schools.

In either case, the fight over supplementing the historical date markers B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, Latin for "In the year of the Lord") in Kentucky classrooms likely will heat up again this week.

Religious groups and other opponents are expected in force for a hearing today that will focus in part on whether Kentucky schools should add the secular term C.E. (Common Era) to A.D. and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) to B.C. to mark dates in history.

The state hearing begins at 2 p.m. in the Transportation Cabinet's auditorium, 200 Mero St., Frankfort. Comments will be sent to the Board of Education at its June meeting.

And a lot of comment is expected, especially from people like Nathan Jones, whose two children attend Oldham County public schools and who sees the proposed change as a "blatant slap against Christ."

"It's an attempt still to continue to get God out of the school systems, and the whole thing seems so silly," Jones said.

But to Lexington parent Rachel Belin, the proposal is an acceptable compromise because it "demonstrates a sensitivity to other cultures in a way that B.C. and A.D. doesn't."

"I always felt as a kid, who was Jewish, and hearing the term B.C., that that in a way was a forced acknowledgment that Christ is the Messiah," Belin said, "and I always felt uncomfortable about it."

The state Board of Education voted in April to add the secular date designations to the state's program of studies, which details the concepts students should be taught in each grade and subject, from preschool to high school.

Under the proposal, B.C. and A.D. would be used alongside B.C.E. and C.E., respectively.

But outcry over the decision could prompt the state Board of Education to reconsider at its June meeting, especially since the 11-member board has changed considerably. Six of the members have joined since that April vote.

Among those who opposed the change in April were members David Rhodes of Mount Sterling and David Webb of Brownsville, who said they prefer using only B.C. and A.D.

"I just don't see anything wrong with it," Rhodes said. "I'm comfortable with the way we're teaching."

Webb said he doesn't see "any compelling reason" to add the new designations.

"I'm sure we will revisit this issue at our June meeting," Webb said.

Other states have added B.C.E. and C.E. to their curriculums, including Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Alabama, Nevada and Georgia. Indiana uses B.C.E. and C.E. in its high school world history classes.

But opponents say Kentucky's change is evidence that education officials are out of touch with public opinion.

Martin Cothran, a senior policy analysis for the Family Foundation, a conservative organization based in Lexington, said the change and the attention is an example of the "big disconnect between the people who run our cultural institutions and the culture itself."

"Leave it to the education bureaucracy to come up with an acronym from hell," he said. "We just think this is sort of a glaring example of this tendency to roll over and play dead when it comes to this effort to completely secularize our culture."

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