Judge approves new social studies standards

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An administrative law judge has cleared the way for new standards on teaching social studies in Minnesota public schools.

Judge Barbara Neilson mediated a dispute between the state Department of Education and a group made up mostly of conservatives who said the standards reflect an “anti-American” and liberal bias. The group also said the standards remove the idea of God-given rights from the discussion, call the United States a democracy rather than a republic and ignore the concept of “American exceptionalism” — the idea that the U.S. holds a unique place and role in human history.