Newton School Superintendent David Fleishman released this letter to the school community today….
Dear Newton Community:
For the past seven years, the Newton Public Schools have been the target of outside groups claiming anti-Israel bias in our history curriculum. These baseless claims, often reliant upon materials and documents taken out of context, are misleading and only serve to denigrate the hard work and professionalism of our skilled and dedicated faculty.
In recent months, the attacks have grown increasingly and unjustly personal. Our history teachers have been singled out, harassed and subjected to harsh and unfair criticism in the media and online. As a result, there is growing concern among our faculty about teaching controversial topics. Should these attacks continue, we worry it will jeopardize our ability to expose students to diverse opinions and to teach them about controversial issues that require open minds and critical thought.
We stand behind our faculty members, who are guided by the mission and values of the Newton Public Schools and their professional judgment. Whether it is the history of the Middle East or contemporary American politics, they are committed to engaging students around complex and challenging issues in a responsible, intellectual and balanced way.
In every class, our teachers work to ensure that students learn to separate fact from opinion, discern between different points of view, challenge their own thinking and that of their peers, and develop evidence-based opinions through study and the testing of ideas. They also provide space for students to actively listen, particularly to those voices in the minority – whether it be political, racial, ethnic, religious, or gender.
As always, we encourage our families to bring any questions about curriculum to their child’s teacher or department head. Information and teaching materials are always available to families and our administrators and faculty are happy to discuss them. For more information on teaching controversial topics in the Newton Public Schools, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on our website.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
DF:cc
This terrifies me. It’s a direct fallout from the story earlier this summer of the Federalist essay that reached to the top of Fox News. It’s the result of the weaponization of public processes, like public comments in meetings, FOIA requests and paid ads on Facebook.
I WANT my children to learn “critical thought” in their school. I want them to challenge what they think they know and yes, challenge me (and they do). My sons came out of the Newton Middle East curriculum feeling that, in general, the school has already started backing away from controversial topics. It happens that they are filling in that part of their education elsewhere, but this issue makes me wonder about how we’re building and maintaining our educational system.
Parents in Newton already supplement their children’s education with various non-school STEM programs as well as sports programs, all at great expense. Do we now need to supplement critical thinking programs? If the public schools remain under assault from both the threat of lawsuits and constrained budgets, how do we maintain an educated population? Does all this mean we are moving further toward having strong lines between haves and have-nots?
These are moving from enrichment programs to a standard part of kids’ education. What does it mean if you don’t put your kid in programs for math, art, or sports? Will the schools that emerge from this assault give our children what they need to be good citizens or to get into college? Are we removing the schools’ ability to be their springboard into life?
Then there are the personal financial implications of a weakened school system on real estate prices.
I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but the implications here are vast.
Great statement from the Superintendent.
What do students believe about history instruction in the
Newton Schools? Do they speak out about perceived bias in
the curriculum?
Can they drop courses they view as bias?
The comment above by Chuck Tanowitz is among the finest I’ve ever read on this blog. Maybe even the finest.
It’s time that we all stood up collectively to these dishonest smear campaigns. Thank you David Fleishman for releasing this statement.
Great statement from David Fleishman and follow up by Chuck. Critical thinking, learning to parse fact from fiction and listening to all perspectives is the only way to educate students to be good citizens and participate in our democracy.
I have watched the public comments of those involved with the group calling itself Education Without Indoctrination to the School Committee for months now, and I made public comment in response to them on September 4. I am attaching the text of my comments below.
I am pleased to see the Superintendent address this problem directly. The actions of the Education Without Indoctrination group is, as Chuck Tanowitz so astutely put it, the weaponization of the public process. Lawsuits, thousands of pages of FOI requests, and vitriolic comments and signs at every school committee are not just minor distractions. These actions are having a chilling effect on our teacher’s abilities to teach our children vital skills in critical thinking. Our teachers and our elected officials are being harassed, and it needs to stop.
To answer your question, Colleen Minaker, at least for my five kids (the youngest of whom is a senior in high school), they have never reported bias, indoctrination or antisemitism in their NPS education (and collectively they’ve spent 65 years in NPS!) This does not mean that it could not happen, but I would want to see much more compelling evidence than a middle eastern history workbook that was removed years ago, and short, student-screened film about which reasonable people could disagree.
I plan to attend the next School Committee meeting on October 1 . It’s at 7 pm in room 210 of the Education Center at 100 Walnut Street. I hope that other Newton residents will join me in making public comment to show support for our teachers, staff and school committee members.
My comments on September 4 were:
My name is Eileen Sandberg, and I live in West Newton. My children have attended the Newton Public Schools for the past 22 years, and my youngest is now a senior in high school.
I’ve listened repeatedly to my Newton neighbors calling the actions of our teachers, school committee and superintendent brainwashing or indoctrination. I repectfully disagree. Brainwashing is a term meaning the ” persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship”. It is teaching children to hate. The values that have been taught to my children in the Newton Public Schools are the opposite of this.
I fully support the right of any parent who respectfully questions what their child is being taught. Our family has had many discussions about what our kids are learning. Because of this, I fully and gratefully support the educators in our schools who work so hard to teach our kids to analyze information, to question the sources of their information and look at the quality of evidence, in order to understand the issues our world faces, and formulate their own personal views.
The short film “Ismail” was shown by a student group at Newton North in May. Everyone with an interest in this issue should view the film, which is available on vimeo. It portrays the life of a Palestinian refugee family in 1948. In the beginning there is a one minute scene where an Israeli soldier uses his rifle to knock a suitcase from the title character’s hands, and berates and insults him. Other Israeli soldiers are shown without this aggresive behavior. No one at any point in the film makes any reference to the Israelis as Nazis.
I found the film sad and disturbing, not offensive, and relevant to understanding the experience of refugees all over the world. The students I’ve talked to who saw the film were not brainwashed or indoctrinated, and did not see Israelis as evil.
What the film does show is that the Israeli soldiers, like soldiers the world over in tense situations, were not perfect and made mistakes. Should we fail to teach the history of much worse abuses, like My Lai or Abu Ghraib, because they do not show our own country’s soldiers in a purely positive light? I say, not in the Newton Public Schools. We should continue to give our students both information and the skills to analyze and understand it.
I would like to remind everyone that we have students in this room tonight, and we can all model for our students how adults handle differences with respect and collaboration.
I will end by stating my strong opinion that we need to let the School Committee do its work on other important topics, too, including full day kindergarten, high school start times, balancing school enrollments, transition planning for our special needs students and reaching a contract agreement with our teachers. I thank you all for your service to the City of Newton.
Because Superintendent Fleishman, Chuck, and Eileen already spoke so eloquently, what they said.
To me, this discussion just highlights again how crucial our teachers are to our community. It is really heartening to see the extent to which the community has their backs.
If you agree with the Superintendent’s, Chuck’s, Greg’s, Eileen’s, Bryan’s, and my perspective on this issue, I encourage you to offer public comment at the next School Committee meeting, Monday, October 1, at 7:00pm at the Ed Center. You can sign up right before the meeting and speak for up to 3 minutes. Outside groups have been recently attending SC meetings to make baseless allegations about the NPS history curriculum.
I was proud to offer these comments at tonight’s (9/17) meeting:
Hi, I’m Michael Ryter, I’m a Newton Centre resident and a recent Newton South graduate.
After reading the Superintendent’s letter earlier today, I wanted to voice my admiration and support for our excellent Newton history teachers.
History was my favorite subject in high school. So much so that I took 6 history classes, with topics ranging from Ancient History to U.S. History to Comparative Government, taught by 5 different history teachers whose areas of expertise, life experience, and teaching styles all differed. But they all had two things in common: their enthusiasm for teaching, and their shared commitment to intellectual dialogue and critical thinking.
They would often assign argumentative papers and case studies to force us to examine issues deeply and hold in-class simulations to urge us think on our feet. These assignments ensured that we not only excelled on AP and standardized testing, but that we possessed historical thinking skills that enable us to succeed in future educational and professional endeavors.
While our teachers would never insincerely pretend they don’t have their own beliefs, they always act professionally, clearly separating fact from opinion. In fact, teachers contributed contradictory viewpoints to our class discussions, to play “devil’s advocate,” reinforcing the importance of examining all perspectives on every issue.
I would not be who I am today without my Newton Public Schools’ history education. My teachers developed my thinking, research, and writing skills, all teaching me to effectively analyze historic and contemporary sources. I am confident I speak for my former classmates when I say that the our history teachers both motivated and prepared us to be free-minded, civically engaged citizens in our adult lives.
I was distraught to hear that our history teachers are being personally harassed only because they aren’t afraid to lead class discussions on complex issues — discussions necessary for student growth. As an active member of the Jewish community and a former Jewish day school student, I am particularly disappointed that some community members are falsely alleging systemic anti-Semitic bias in our curriculum, something I never experienced as a student.
I hope our history teachers will soon be left alone to focus on their important job of educating our students, and that the School Committee will be able to shift its focus toward the many important issues facing it this academic year, including adopting a later high school start time, implementing full day kindergarten, negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, and passing a FY20 budget that reflects our district’s values.
Thank you.
@Michael Ryter – if you’re an example of the teaching of the Newton high schools, then they are doing an impressive job. You write clearly, make excellent points, and argue persuasively.
Excellent article in the Globe reporting on the Superintendent’s letter. The headline calls this organization exactly what it is – alt-right.
Just a clarification: Whatever one’s opinion of the groups protesting the Middle East history curriculum, “alt right” is not an accurate description of them. I was surprised at the Globe’s headline. The so-called alt right are white nationalists, even watered-down neo-Nazis. Along with being racist, they despise Jews and believe Zionists control the U.S.
@bob thank you for the comment. I really appreciate it.
@Andy while you may be completely accurate in your assessment, they are certainly using alt-right tactics in how they use the media and stoke hatred. They are going so far as to stir up some of the same supporters of the alt-right by targeting The Federalist for an essay; essentially creating a digital mob that can be just as frightening and dangerous as one carrying tiki torches.
For the record, and in agreement with Andy Levin, this group is first of all not alt-right – – racist white nationalists. They do seem to be using Fox news as a platform and larger stage, which isn’t a surprise, because Fox doesn’t really question sources or facts either and thus these untruths find a wider audience.
But as importantly, this group neither represents nor has the support of the Jewish community as a whole, nor the observant Jewish community as a whole, nor the pro-Israel community as a whole.
Thank you, Michael Ryter, for your comments.
In the ten years since Richard Spencer coined the term “alt-right”, it has morphed into a more comprehensive movement that includes hatred of any group that doesn’t fit the mold of a white Christian society. In addition to a number of other groups, hatred of Islam as a religion and Muslims as a group is now considered part of the alt-right (non)thinking.
Would “alt-wrong” fit better?
As to the original post- I am happy to see the Superintendent having his teachers’ backs. The attacks from this hate group have been persistent over the years, and naming the teachers was another line crossed.
I want to echo the people that have said that Superintendent Fleishman, Chuck, Eileen and Michael all wrote wonderful posts (letters).
If these people are all so concerned about what their children are learning, why wouldn’t they move out of Newton?? There has to be cheaper places to live that doesn’t infuriate them. If all this noise is coming from outside the city, then they can go F-off. (sorry).
For those seeking a film that presents a complex, balanced view of Zionism’s history, I recommend my brother-in-law Oren Rudavsky’s documentary “Colliding Dreams.” It is deeply researched and replete with archival footage. It also presents voices from every side of the conflict. Here’s a link to a review:
https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/colliding-dreams-review-1201722339/. Perhaps the high schools might want to use this film when covering the region in history classes.
I have begun a petition in support of the teachers in the Newton Public Schools, and the teaching of critical thinking skills. Please consider signing at https://www.change.org/p/david-fleishman-support-teaching-critical-thinking-in-newton-public-schools?recruiter=901020796&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition
Michael, you are a shining example that the history teachers are doing a great job.
Bob, good film.
Eileen, I’m happy to sign but concerned if we are at the point of needing a petition.
A big thanks to my friend Jess, who told this technological troglodyte about tiny url!
The link is now: https://tinyurl.com/y8z684cj