Commonwealth Policy Center

A grammar homework assignment in a Louisville grade school classroom turned into a lesson in political activism and it has several parents upset.  A fourth-grader at Stopher Elementary came home with a grammar assignment that was supposed to teach proper comma placement with conjunctions. The directions said “If the sentence should have a comma before the conjunction write ‘Yes’ on the line. If not, write ‘No.” Add your comma. Make it bold.” The questions went like this “Claire threw the frisbee down the driveway, so Rover chased it.” The answer was Yes. The controversial question said this: “He ran against Matt Bevin for governor, so I voted for him.” The correct answer was “Yes.” The parent brought her concerns to the school. Some teachers may disagree with Gov. Bevin’s policies, but they shouldn’t politicize homework assignments.