Frank Swain is a science writer and blogger. He is based in the UK.
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The NY Post reported yesterday that a brain-training type programme had been taken up by dozens of schools in New York, despite its connections to the Dahn Yoga cult.
A controversial teaching program linked to an alleged cult leader managed to slip into 44 New York City public schools because it didn't cost enough to trigger detailed background checks, school officials said yesterday.
Fees for the Brain Power program, developed by Seung Huen Lee, founder of Dahn Yoga -- said to help kids improve their focus -- were well under the $25,000 cutoff, said Education Department spokesman David Cantor.
Dahn Yoga has been embroiled in a federal lawsuit in Arizona after dozens of former employees accused the organisation of cult-like practices. The Boston Magazine has an in-depth article about a man who asked intervention expert Steve Hassan to rescue his son from the group.
Comments
When are these educators going to start looking closer at the programs that go into the schools? This is not an isolated incident. Scientology's Narconon has been thrown out of public schools again and again, and Scientology's Applied Scholastics is currently used as a supplemental tutoring company in 11 states' Depts of Education.
(see studytech.org if this alarms you).
I don't mean to point the finger at the public educational system, but I think that the outside groups that get involved in the teaching process need a little harder scrutiny; at least 15 minutes of Google would be nice.
I remain, a dedicated fan of public education.
Posted by: Jen | November 12, 2009 12:54 AM
Yeah, I got agree with Jen. Contracts under $25,000 should be subject to a Google or Jstor search at minimum.
Posted by: History Punk | November 15, 2009 11:17 PM