Newton North Teachers To Take A Stand, After Targeting

NEWTON, MA — If you drive past the corner of Elm and Walnut streets Thursday morning before school, you will likely see a group of teachers and staff from Newton North High School with a message.

Teachers and staff plan to stand in solidarity with two colleagues who were criticized in a petition this summer following accusations of anti-Israel bias in the Federalist and Fox News.

Read what happened Thursday morning here: Newton North Teachers Respond To Allegations, Harrassment

The school district and a number of parents and students have been fighting allegations of anti-conservative bias for years. The groups lobbing the allegations say the district's curriculum is biased against Israel and complains that the district has a secretive process to devise its curriculum.

The district refutes this, and came out with an FAQ describing how the curriculum is drafted. Earlier this school year, the superintendent released a statement condemning what he called the unfair harassment of specific teachers.

At the high school, a couple of dozen teachers formed a group to help coordinate a response, as reported by the Newton North School newspaper, the Newtonite.

"I think that a concern for their colleagues is what spurred them on" Principal Henry Turner said in an interview with Patch. "When people learned that there was this petition calling out for the firing of two of our teachers as well as our superintendent, there was this sense that this was going over the line.

"It really has been a grass roots group of teachers from all over our building," Turner said.

Some of the teachers who banded together have offices near the history department, he said, but others who don't see history teachers on a daily basis still wanted to support them.

"We have a really passionate, spirited school and community," Turner said. "And this is really a hallmark of our school. So I'm not surprised that they're rallying this way."

And that is why he plans to go stand on the corner with the teachers, he told Patch.

"I'm going because two teachers are being targeted by name," he said. "That's going over the line. Teachers don't sign up for this job to be on Fox News."

Turner said it was important for families to know that if they have concerns about curriculum or teaching or the school, they should bring them to him and his administration will look into them and take them seriously.

North history teachers and faculty plan to stand out at the corner of Elm and Walnut streets before school at 7:15 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, the Newtonite posted to its Facebook Page.

Check out the Newton Patch Facebook page for updates.

Previously:

Newton History Teachers Harassed Unjustly: Superintendent

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff