We started as a way to support our AP English teachers and we do NOT support book banning or the removal of literature from the curriculum especially without due process! We have evolved from this start to support our teachers and the administration in preserving academic integrity in Plymouth-Canton.
Mission Statement: To promote educational excellence and integrity in Plymouth Canton, the Supporters of Academic integrity is a collaboration of teachers, administrators, parents, students and alumni who work to support and recognize outstanding educators and curriculum.
We know that providing outstanding education, through quality programs and, is the only way to ensure that our students gain the ability to think critically. Without educational excellence and integrity in our public schools, our democracy as we know it will die, as have so many great civilizations of the past.
Statement of Beliefs:
We believe in public education and we support excellence and integrity in education.
We strongly support academic freedom.
We support our teachers and policies that make it possible for teachers to practice their art without undue interference.
We trust our dedicated, professional teachers to have the expertise to design the best curriculum for our students.
We welcome a partnership between teachers, parents, and students as a dynamic system.
We support our administrators and the board of education as colleagues who provide input and encouragement to our teachers, parents and students.
We are happy to provide assistance to our teachers, the administration, and the board whenever invited.
And we welcome future collaborations with all.
Statement on Beloved:
We, the Supporters of Academic Integrity in Plymouth-Canton, commend the review committee for their conscientious work in approving Beloved for the Advanced Placement English course at the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (the Park). We strongly agree with this decision and the support it gives to our teachers and their right to determine what materials to use in their classes without interference. The committee’s decision ensures this course will maintain the academic rigor that has allowed students at The Park to score well-above average on the Advanced Placement English exam for many years. We look forward to working with the Superintendent and the School Board to also have Waterland reinstated as quickly as possible while cooperatively discussing a path forward to prevent these types of disruptions in the future.
Statement on Waterland:
We, the Supporters of Academic Integrity in Plymouth-Canton, thank the members of the Waterland Review Committee for their diligent work and fully support the decision to approve Waterland for the Advanced Placement English curriculum at the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (The Park). It is now incumbent on Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Hughes to make this book available immediately to AP English students so that they may have the opportunity that was taken away from them to finish reading this critically-acclaimed novel if they so choose. While we are relieved that Waterland has been allowed to once again take its rightful place in the AP English curriculum, there are still outstanding issues that need to be addressed. We appreciate Board member Simescu’s powerful statement in support of academic freedom presented at Tuesday’s Plymouth-Canton School Board meeting. It is now essential that the full board follow his example and voice its determination to protect academic freedom for our highly trained and professional teaching staff and pledge to leave intact the curriculum approval system that has worked so well to produce the rigorous curriculum that has established Plymouth-Canton as one of the most highly acclaimed educational institutions in the State of Michigan. It is also imperative that steps be taken to ensure that one set of parents, no matter how well intentioned they may be, will never again be able to create the confusion, controversy, and discord that this unfortunate series of events has caused students, parents, and the community. We look forward to working cooperatively with the school board to make sure Plymouth-Canton Community Schools remain as highly acclaimed in the future as they are today.
