--- title: Denver Students Protest Proposed Changes to History Curriculum description: Hundreds of Denver high school students are protesting a proposal to ax U.S. history texts that don't promote “respect for authority” canonical: https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/ author: Elizabeth Barber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-25T06:44:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:24:09.552Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Denver Students Protest Curriculum Proposals og:description: A school board's bid to do away with history materials condoning "civil disorder" has created, well, civil disorder. og:url: https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916bac26b11a371d/6986a55b169ab07ce527b654/denver-school-curriculum-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ella Gonzales and Jordan Miller, high school students, take part in a walkout protest outside Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colo. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Denver Students Protest Curriculum Proposals twitter:description: A school board's bid to do away with history materials condoning "civil disorder" has created, well, civil disorder. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916bac26b11a371d/6986a55b169ab07ce527b654/denver-school-curriculum-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # History Curriculum Promoting 'Respect for Authority' Prompts Student Anger in Denver by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 25, 2014 6:44 AM CUT  Ella Gonzales and Jordan Miller, high school students, take part in a walkout protest outside Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colo., Sept. 23, 2014. Ella Gonzales and Jordan Miller, high school students, take part in a walkout protest outside Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colo., Sept. 23, 2014.Matthew Staver—The New York Times/Redux by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 25, 2014 6:44 AM CUT Hundreds of high school students in suburban Denver walked out of their classes on Wednesday morning, expressing disgust at a [local proposal](http://www.boarddocs.com/co/jeffco/Board.nsf/files/9NYRPF6DED70/$file/JW%20PROPOSAL%20Board%20Committee%20for%20Curriculum%20Review.pdf "undefined") to ax U.S. history texts that fail to promote “respect for authority” alongside respect for individual rights. The [700-strong protest](http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci%5F26596010/jeffco-student-protests-continue-wednesday-at-bear-creek "undefined") spanned six area schools and was the largest yet in a series of walkouts this week in Jefferson County, Colorado’s second largest school district, over curriculum revisions proposed by a recently elected conservative school board, the Denver _Post_ reports. The new school board wants to establish a committee that would review all texts used in the district’s history curriculum to make sure they promote “positive aspects of the United States and its heritage.” “Materials should promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights,” reads the proposal. Meanwhile, material condoning “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law” should be jettisoned, it says. On Twitter, commentators used the hashtag [#JeffcoSchoolBoardHistory](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23JeffcoSchoolBoardHistory&src=typd "undefined") to mock the proposal, offering tongue-in-cheek tweaks to common historical narratives. “During WWII Japanese Americans were given free housing by the government,” tweeted one user. “Roe vs Wade was about the best way to cross a river,” tweeted another. The school board has not yet scheduled a [vote](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/63d00226746742178f5c53205516b797/denver-area-students-walk-out-school-protest "undefined") on the proposal, the Associated Press says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/"},"headline":"History Curriculum Promoting 'Respect for Authority' Prompts Student Anger in Denver","datePublished":"2014-09-25T06:44:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:24:09.552Z","description":"A school board's bid to do away with history materials condoning \"civil disorder\" has created, well, civil disorder","url":"https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/","keywords":["Education","Colorado","Denver"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916bac26b11a371d/6986a55b169ab07ce527b654/denver-school-curriculum-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916bac26b11a371d/6986a55b169ab07ce527b654/denver-school-curriculum-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ella Gonzales and Jordan Miller, high school students, take part in a walkout protest outside Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colo.","caption":"Ella Gonzales and Jordan Miller, high school students, take part in a walkout protest outside Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colo., Sept. 23, 2014.","creditText":"Matthew Staver—The New York Times/Redux","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3428238/denver-students-history-curriculum-respect-for-authority-jefferson-county-school-board/","name":"History Curriculum Promoting 'Respect for Authority' Prompts Student Anger in Denver"}}]}] ```