Bias Exists In York High's History, English Classes: Students

ELMHURST, IL — Students are only getting one side of issues in their social studies and English classes at York High School, two students told the school board this week.

For the second meeting in a row, students described to the board what they saw as bias in their classes. Following its policy, the school board did not respond to the public comments.

In a statement to Patch on Friday afternoon, the school district said it "always remains responsive to any concerns addressed by students and our families. However, we do not have a direct response to the student comments at the Sept. 7, 2021 Board of Education meeting. When there is input shared from a student, either provided to one of our schools or at a board meeting, a member of our team will meet with the student and review the issue."

On Tuesday, York student Charles Casey told the board that some teachers do their best to present material objectively, but he said it is difficult because the curriculum itself is geared toward shaping students' viewpoints.

For instance, he said, half of the novels in the school's Advanced Placement Language and Composition course were replaced with a single unit focused on a single viewpoint about equity.

Casey objected to the portion of the U.S. History course on terrorism.

"The entire terrorism unit seemed to focus more on pushing this idea that the real bad guy is the United States rather than just informing about the time period or encouraging critical thinking," he said. "This flaw where the curriculum attempts to teach a specific viewpoint is pervasive throughout many of the English and social studies classes and is a problem. It alienates students with different viewpoints, and it is very divisive."

Other students wanted to speak out about the issue, Casey said, but they were worried that their grades would be impacted.

Senior Paul Nicoli, who also spoke to the board in late August, told the board this week that the AP Language course includes "overtly political" articles.

One of his examples was the Washington Post story, "Competing visions of the American dream are driving Democrats and Republicans apart," which he said demonizes "a certain group of voters and a certain group of people within the United States."

The discussion questions that students are asked, Nicoli said, often include opinions. That makes it difficult for students with different viewpoints to answer, he said.

Nicoli pointed to one such question: "Why do you think that our police force and criminal justice system are disproportionately harming the lives and bodies of people of color?"

"It's not a fair question," he said. "That question has an answer inside of it, and if it were worded differently, you would get different responses."

Nicoli said students should be given reading materials from different perspectives, not just one.

Also in public comment, Elmhurst resident Carolyn Carrillo encouraged the board to respond to the students' concerns.

"I feel it would be very appropriate for the district to step in and respond in some way," Carrillo said.