Mayor: I Categorically Reject Accusations Against Newton Schools

NEWTON, MA — Mayor Ruthanne Fuller strongly defended the school system against claims that its history curriculum is anti-Israel.

"I categorically reject the allegation that Newton Public Schools’ curriculum is anti-Semitic or that there is an anti-Semitic bias inherent in our schools," said Fuller, who is Jewish, in a statement.

The statement comes after the School Committee held a special meeting to consider a petition to oust Superintendent David Fleishman, who is also Jewish, for allowing what some groups have called anti-Semitic bias in the schools. The committee unanimously rejected the petition.

"I support our Newton Public Schools teachers," the mayor said. "I am particularly disturbed by the targeting of individual teachers and am deeply concerned about the effect these attacks on individual teachers have on the way class discussions are led and emails are written."

The public statement also comes amid a years-long campaign by outside groups accusing the Newton School District of anti-Israel bias in its high school history curriculum. Last week, hundreds of teachers showed up to support the administration and the curriculum.

Read more>>Newton Teachers, School Committee Defend History Curriculum

Teachers and the administration have been grappling with accusations of anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism in the district for years. They have even had to address more muted recent concerns from the American Defamation League.

CAMERA, a lobby and research organization founded to combat criticism of Israel in the media Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has taken special issue with the curriculum of the district's "Middle East, Asia and Latin America" class. Charles Jacobs who has been out front of many past crticisms of the district's curriculum cofounded the Boston branch of the group.

The class included a unit on "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict" that CAMERA researchers say is inaccurate.

"The course presents competing Palestinian and Zionist accounts of the history of the conflict. However, the Zionist version contains errors and deficiencies that render it less persuasive than the Palestinian account," says Steven Stotsky in his latest analysis.

Anti-Semitic bias elsewhere in Newton?

So far this year, there have been 13 bias-related anti-Semitic incidents reported to the Newton Police, who stress that not all bias-related reports are crimes. In 2017, there were 15 incidents reported and in 2016 there were 21.

Incidents can range from name calling to graffiti on public property or even rocks, said police.

In every instance, police reported the cases to the Anti-Defamation League and the Newton Rights Commission, according to Police Spokesperson Lt. Bruce Apotheker.

"We take every incident, whether it's a bias-related crime or bias incident, we take it extremely serious, and we will follow it up and investigate it 100 percent," he said. "To do less would be an injustice to those victimized."

This year, four incidents were reported at Newton North, three at Newton South, two incidents on Vernon Street, one on Hawthorne Street, one on Dolphin Road, two on Center Street, one on Watertown Street and one at the education center on Walnut Street.

Most of those, said Apotheker, involved symbols, from a swastika drawn on someone's notebook, to graffiti and name calling. Graffiti is a crime, stressed Apotheker, name-calling, is not. Apotheker said he did not remember the last time an incident was serious enough that someone pressed charges.

But hate is not rampant in the city, Apotheker said in an emailed statement to Patch: "We have not seen acts of bias by any formal hate groups or associations."

READ THESE TO CATCH UP ON THE ISSUE:

• Newton Teachers, School Committee Defend History Curriculum
• Newton Temple Responds To Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack
• Newton History Teachers Harassed Unjustly: Superintendent

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The Mayor's full statement:

At the hearing, many students, parents, teachers and other community members overwhelmingly voiced strong support, admiration, and respect for the history teachers in the Newton Public Schools (NPS). They spoke about how the NPS teachers expose students to diverse opinions, help them separate fact from opinion, and discern different points of view. Other speakers raised concerns about bias in our curriculum.

I agree with the concerns that were raised that anti-Semitism, as well as bigotry, hate and intolerance against Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, black and brown, and LGBTQ people has become more pronounced in the past few years. However, I categorically reject the allegation that Newton Public Schools’ curriculum is anti-Semitic or that there is an anti-Semitic bias inherent in our schools.

I support our Newton Public Schools teachers. I am particularly disturbed by the targeting of individual teachers and am deeply concerned about the effect these attacks on individual teachers have on the way class discussions are lead and emails are written.

Moving forward, I will continue to support our educators to combat bias in all its forms. All members of our community - students, faculty, parents - should feel safe, welcome and included in our schools and beyond. As Mayor, I welcome all input and involvement from parents, families and residents. I can be reached at rfuller@newtonma.gov.

Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff