You can't say "Halloween" in school

City avoids placing taboo topics (that kids may actually know about) on public school exams - NYPOST.com
In a bizarre case of political correctness run wild, educrats have banned references to "dinosaurs," "birthdays," "Halloween" and dozens of other topics on city-issued tests.
That’s because they fear such topics "could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students."
Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays aren’t celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses; and Halloween suggests paganism.
Even "dancing" is taboo, because some sects object. But the city did make an exception for ballet.
The forbidden topics were recently spelled out in a request for proposals provided to companies competing to revamp city English, math, science and social-studies tests given several times a year to measure student progress.
...Homes with swimming pools and computers are also unmentionables here — because of economic sensitivities — while computers in the school or in libraries are acceptable.

This is a bit off my self-defined mission, but some things are just too stupid to ignore. Yeah, I know, I'm not supposed to use the word "stupid."

I can't think of any reason that a child should never have heard of dinosaurs because his parents think the earth is only 4,000 years old. Now, I can hear you saying, "It's absurd to think that any child will never hear of dinosaurs merely because they aren't mentioned on a test at school." Why, yes, it is. Then why bother hiding them? Schools, and tests, routinely mention things that the student hasn't personally encountered, or at least hasn't encountered yet. Isn't that sort-of the point of school? To teach 'em something new?

What kind of science are you teaching that you never have occasion to mention dinosaurs?

At what point in a child's development is it acceptable for them to encounter things and ideas that are not put there (or are withheld from them) specifically for their convenience?

If they aren't prepared to cope with things as benign as birthdays and home computers, what the hell will happen to them when (as they inevitably must) they hear about slavery, the holocaust and sex?

If you're determined to avoid things that "evoke unpleasant emotions in the students," then you'd better stop giving tests.