“How we teach our collective past, our relationship to money, civic engagement, is inherently political by a degree,” Paska said. “The process of creating standards in social studies involves engaging multiple stakeholders to find a shared consensus.”

Muffett, of Citizens for Traditional Values, said he thought educators on

the focus group would look at him and other conservatives on the committee “like we were Martians,” but that everyone was open to listening to differing opinions.

“For some of the traditional educators, having my side in the room made them think of things in a way they weren’t used to,” Muffett said. He cited an example of there being “nothing in (the standards) talking about people advocating for the rights of unborn humans, (so) why shouldn’t that get equal play with the homosexual lobby?”

Said Forward: “One of the things I’ve learned in this process is that people who are active in political parties on both sides of the fence ascribe meaning to words that the layperson may not. It’s important to listen to both liberals and conservatives and their points of view on topics.

“This process reflects our attempt, good or bad, to listen to the voices of many, some of whom might not be the voice I would normally reach out to, but recognizing it is very important to hear all those voices,” Forward added.

“The process reflects the importance of the topic. It represents our country.”

Ulbrich, of the state board, said she expects the board to make numerous changes to the language in the standards before they are approved. So does MDE’s Cameron.

“I anticipate pushback” on some changes,” Cameron said.

The public can attend one of five remaining MDE public meetings around the state (see box), or comment online on the new standards through June 30 here.