The City Council today sent a letter signed by all of the councilors in support of Principal Turner (Newton North High School ) and Principal Coston’s (Bigelow Middle School) handling of the aftermath of the Rittenhouse verdict.
Breitbart News published a disparaging article about the principal’s handling of the matter. That led to the principals receiving a series of “hateful emails and voicemails laced with racism” from people around the country reported the Boston Globe.
Here’s the City Councilors letter …
Dear Dr. Turner and Ms. Coston,
We were alarmed and concerned about the inflammatory response you received as you helped your communities process the responses to the Rittenhouse trial verdict. As we understand your actions, your goal was to provide spaces for students to process the verdict at your respective schools, Newton North High School and Bigelow Middle School.
We have read and are supportive of the complete Newton Public Schools DEI Vision Statement . The focus of this letter is this element from the Vision Statement; “At Newton Public Schools, we believe the work of antiracism requires a commitment to be actively conscious about race and racism and to take actions to end racial inequities in our daily lives. Therefore, we will take immediate and sustained action to dismantle racism in our schools and communities and commit to constant work of learning, growing, reflecting on our progress and shortcomings in our changing world.”
The comments and actions made by the two of you are exactly to the point of this element of the NPS vision statement and we support your stance to call out racism and your constant work of learning, growing and reflecting on our progress in this area.
We support the work of all Newton Public School’s principals, teachers and staff who work hard every day to implement the vision statement. We are appalled that the two of you have been attacked for doing this important work. We hope a small cohort of individuals or organizations from Newton and beyond does not affect the work you and your colleagues do as you educate our children going forward.
We thank you for your commitment and the work you and your colleagues do every day to educate Newton’s children.
Yours truly,
Susan Albright, President Rick Lipof, Vice President Lisle Baker, President Emeritus John Oliver, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 1 Alison Leary, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 1 Maria Scibelli Greenberg, Ward Councilor, Ward 1 Emily Norton, Ward Councilor, Ward 2 Tarik Lucas, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 2 Julia Malakie, Ward Councilor, Ward 3 Andrea Kelley, Councilor-at Large, Ward 3 Pam Wright, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 3 Josh Krintzman, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 4 Christopher Markiewicz, Ward Councilor, Ward 4 Lenny Gentile, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 4 Andreae Downs, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 5 Deb Crossley, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 5 Bill Humphrey, Ward Councilor, Ward 5 Brenda Noel, Ward Councilor, Ward 6 Alicia Bowman, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 6 Victoria Danberg, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 6 Marc Laredo, Councilor-at-Large, Ward 7 Rebecca Grossman, Councilor-at-large, Ward 7 David Kalis, Councilor at Large, Ward 8 Holly Ryan, Ward Councilor-at-Large, Ward 8
Hmmm…are some council names missing from the letter?
As I continue to read and hear, NPS have changed for the worse. Maybe that is why enrollment continues to drop. The Mayor and others will say it’s covid related but deep down the parents know better. They don’t want their children being indoctrinated with left sided politics, race, etc in the classroom. Hard working taxpayers want their kids learning practical concepts, interpersonal skills, techniques, strategies, etc. Above all I want my kids to learn why America is the greatest country on Earth and has brilliant leaders like Elon Musk who aren’t afraid to stand up to Senator Karen.
No, “Ken”.
Actually, Yes, Ken. Very Yes.
His actions were not appropriate in a school. Does he have ambition for elected office? Is he writing a book? Reasonable questions to ask, right?
@frank d
Not only does he have a book deal in the works (mostly written by another NPS admin) but there is a Hollywood documentary being discussed as well.
Elon Musk has suckled too long at the public teat, and parlayed his father’s emerald jewel fortune into, well, another fortune at public expense. And he created a misogynist company, Tesla, and a college with the acronym T.I.T.S., because, of course. Ordinarily, I eschew euthanasia, but in the case of Elon Musk, I might be willing to make an exception.
You need to seek professional help
Ken,
Students should be taught about racism in schools, period. However, the case highlighted has been highly politicized.
A white man (with no confirmed ties to white supremacy) shoots 3 white men and is found not guilty on ALL COUNTS by a jury.
There are many many instances of racism (eg pretending to be a minority to boost your career), but this would be a poor example to highlight
Bugek, I couldnt agree more. As a society we need to learn from the mistakes of past generations and work to fix them, but countering racism with racism isnt necessarily good and is divisive.
What HT did was divisive. Agree with him or not, it caused a lot of controversy and divided the community. Is this a leader? For me, no. Supporting him in the face of racist threats however should be expected and I am thankful we are doing that. But, that cannot hide his actions which were not appropriate.
So much to address here. First of all, hoorah to Senator Warren for pointing out the hypocrisy of the billionaires who evade paying their fair share of taxes into the public coffers. The gap between the less than 1% elite and the rest of us continues to grow. Some people on the margins work 60 hours a week and still can’t make ends meet. These inequities need address, and the solution falls far short of socialism. We need a system that supports free enterprise but also levels the playing field and stops favoring the oligarchs.
Please, can we discard “Senator Karen” and other tropes of Fox News, which is now completely exposed as a co-conspirator in the January 6th rebellion and subsequent cover-up? Can we also acknowledge that the dangers of “woke” culture, however excessive it sometimes seems, are far more modest than the dangers of far Right militias and Trump’s attempts to steal the last presidential election and the next one? We all have the right to disagree with President Biden’s policies, but no thinking person can endorse the lies that Trump and Breitbart continue to spread. Democracy is on the line here, and we must all support objective news reporting and truth-telling.
Finally, please be more precise in criticizing the Newton Public Schools. Do you believe that the syllabus isn’t sufficiently rigorous? That students aren’t reading and writing enough? That the teaching of history isn’t thorough or objective enough? Or do you think, as many parents did in my time, that the students were getting overworked? I am out of it now save for coaching, but most criticisms I read in these blogs seem insufficiently specific.
@Ken Laird– Have you locked-in your gig at the Comedy Store yet? I thought your post here was hysterical, and I’d love to come laugh at you in person.
I’m willing to bet the actual discussions between staff and students inside the school buildings were more nuanced, thoughtful, and educational than the online media postings and articles are. One can be supportive of providing pedagogical frameworks for student engagement on sensitive events like the KR verdict, and at the same time not want our district in the news like this. Students always need to come first, and all this publicity isn’t helping their educational environment.
Adam B. – I’ll take that bet. There was a message that was sent out on Schoology by the Newton South Human Rights Council to EVERY student at Newton South concerning the Rittenhouse verdict, and there was nothing nuanced about it. The message should never have been sent to the entire student body. I’m not a gambler, but I’d definitely wager quite a bit that similar messages were sent out at Newton North.
That is so inappropriate! Don’t people who question the verdict so adamantly understand the harm that does to our legal system, and to the jurors themselves? And I would bet that if they actually watched the videos and listened to the evidence on the trial related to actual laws, they would stop arguing against the verdict. KR was not on trial for being a nice boy, and the lack of a gun charge was due to a loophole that should be fixed. That said, I can’t see how ANY jury would convict anyone of any race or color on the facts of this case.
I wish everyone would learn the facts. Read this, which was from before the verdict. Very legal in nature but boils it all down pretty clearly. https://lawofselfdefense.com/rittenhouse-1/
HT’s actions are completely inappropriate and given he is writing a book (as someone mentioned earlier) this is all a publicity stunt and perhaps should cause him to lose his job. It is at least worth investigating. He is putting his personal well being over the children for whom he is supposed to serve and be a leader for.
The Newton Tab wrote this story about a rally in support of Bigelow Principal Coston
10 years ago, this would not have been an issue…just a principal(s) making an effort towards anti-racism. And it would have ended right there. But not today.
In recent years, the topic of race has taken over every facet of American culture; online, in the media, in workplace and even in schools. Any topic can now be twisted into a fight about race. Dare we say…EVERY topic.
This is not to say, there is not work to be done towards better racial equality. There absolutely is. But the current tactics are misaligned. The volume turned way to high, and well intentioned folks are starting to tune it out.
And that’s ok. Because in time, all things cycle. Brittney Spears started her career as a media darling, then became a shaved-head lunatic. Now, she’s a media darling once again, after being freed from her conservatorship. And hopefully soon, the hyper focus on race, gender and woke will fade a bit, and everyone can just be focus on what they can actually do – interacting with each person they come in contact, with kindness, acceptance and equality. It takes a village.
I just finished John McWhorter’s “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.” There are multiple copies at the library and I recommend it to anyone looking for a more nuanced perspective about the issues and disadvantages still faced by far too many Black Americans.
The principals of my old schools clearly responded in a political way, in the style of and featuring many talking points one hears from the far left. I think they believe it’s part of their job.
I’m guessing 80 percent of the school parents here either heartily endorse or are just comfortable ignoring such a political response to the Rittenhouse trial verdict. As for the other 20 percent, the small minority of residents? Well, screw ’em, I suppose. It’s for a greater cause, a ‘crusade’ if you will.
Well, what if this crusade is setting back race relations in this country 50 years?
Thankfully it’s doomed to fail because it’s based on a lie — that every problem faced by Blacks and certain other people of color in the U.S. is rooted in the continued existence of “white supremacist power structures.”
Thus, the acquittal of a white teenager in the Midwest on charges he murdered two other white men and shot a third (during a period of violent racial unrest over the police murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake) could only be attributable to systemic racism. And of course this should traumatize students.
It’s absurd taken on face value, unless one views it as service to a religious crusade that now dominates most institutions of our culture.
This new religion will eventually be seen as having been counterproductive to Blacks and most everyone else. I hope and I pray it fades into history.
A comment (and responses) was removed for violating Village14 posting rules
Which rule was violated,
Calling people “human garbage” was why I supported removal of that comment.
But a City Councillor boasting “ACAB” is appropriate? Bill, you should be ashamed of yourself. The police, especially our police in Newton, are part of the fabric of why our society works.
When there were these threats on the schools today, did people all over facebook call for police at the schools? Yes. Did they call for “Social Workers” No. So, are all cops B’s now?
Bill, you should be banned from here or apologize countless times for your ridiculous words. I can excuse your being young and stupid, we all were. Time to own up to it and stop claiming being a victim.
Andy,
I commend this review to your attention.
“McWhorter’s whole book is like being lectured by an astronomer who thinks you can study the stars with a kaleidoscope.”
Kind of like a bunch of liberal elitists in big cities in coastal states trying to tell the rest of the country how to live? Yup, makes sense. Even as a Democrat, I am offended by people like Pelosi who say they should be allowed to trade stocks despite having MNPI. I am offended by the “rules for them not for us”. How dare descantis tell me I cant wear a mask and how dare DeBlasio tell me I have to show a vaccine card to go to the movies.
Land of the Free or land of the overbearing government. People like Abbot in Texas, Descantis, Newsome, DeBlasio, Cuomo, etc should realize they work FOR the people. This is the problem with this woke crap, it has gone way too far.