As we’ve reported here at College Insurrection, the Marxist historian Howard Zinn is a hero to the left. Now his work is set to be used in Philadelphia schools.

Randy LoBasso of Philly Now reports.

Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History’ to be taught in Philly schools?

With all the problems facing Philly schools this year, it’s a little surprising to see City Council ready to take on the city-wide history curriculum. But, there’s no time like the present, I guess, and there’s no book quite like Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States.’

Councilmembers Jim Kenney and Jannie Blackwell introduced a resolution, on final passage this week, which would call upon the Philadelphia School District to make ‘A People’s History’ “a required part of the high school U.S. history curriculum”:

Resolution calling upon the Philadelphia School District to make Howard Zinn’s best-selling book “A People’s History of the United States” a required part of the high school U.S. history curriculum as Philadelphia City Council recognizes the need to expose students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of United States history than is typically found in traditional textbooks that often ignore the influence that people of color, women, and the working-class had in shaping our nation’s history.

Zinn’s history book attempted to look at U.S. history – from Columbus to present – through the lens of the common person and through the struggle of those Americans whose story is rarely published. First released in 1980, there were numerous updates of the work, the last of which detailed the beginnings of the War on Terror in the early 2000s. He once referred to his book as an explanation of “how people – not governments – achieve social change.”

Hat tip to J.D. Mullane.

Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History’ to be taught in Philly schools | http://t.co/cikrVgkLEh

— jd mullane (@jdmullane) October 24, 2013