David McCullough: Alabama Has Stopped Teaching History

In a recent interview , author David McCullough said, "The state of Alabama has stopped the teaching of history through the first eight grades. State-wide, no more history." He made the same statement in a lecture delivered to the Heritage Foundation (available here) on June 10, 2005.

I think (and hope) that McCullough is mistaken. Alabama, like many (if not most) other states, lumps the teaching of geography, history, economics, political science, etc. together under the multidisciplinary subject we all know as "Social Studies." According to the Alabama Course of Study :

...historical concepts and skills are included in each grade, but students have a concentrated study of the history of the United States in Grades 5 and 6 as well as in Grades 10 and 11 and of world history in Grades 8 and 9.

Clearly, it isn't accurate to say that there is "no more history" being taught in Alabama schools, unless something has changed very recently. So, I'm at a loss here - why did McCullough single out Alabama for abandoning history education? Where'd he get his info? Did I miss something? Did a federal judge order the removal of all history textbooks from Alabama classrooms while I snoozed? Did all the coaches in the state resign en masse? Did the AEA unilaterally implement its agenda for education reform without telling anyone? Help me out here.