Support Teaching Critical Thinking in Newton Public Schools

We, the undersigned residents of Newton, Massachusetts, are deeply concerned that our Newton Public Schools teachers, school staff, and elected officials are being harassed, insulted, and threatened in an attempt to change how the Middle East history curriculum is taught in our schools.

For the past seven years, groups including Americans for Peace and Tolerance and Education Without Indoctrination have made claims of anti-Israel, pro-Arab bias in the materials used to teach history in Newton's high schools. One oft-repeated assertion of these groups is that our teachers are presenting biased material under the guise of "critical thinking".

Teaching our students to think critically is one of the most important aspects of their Newton Public Schools education, and is in fact the opposite of indoctrination. Our students must leave the public schools with the ability to thoroughly research any given topic, distinguish between fact and opinion, examine and understand all viewpoints involved, and develop evidence-based opinions. To that end, it is vital for teachers to be unafraid to discuss controversial topics in the classroom in order to reinforce these skills and to increase our students' understanding of the world around them.

Citizens have every right to know what is being taught and to question school curriculum that they believe is biased or inaccurate. To that end, NPS provides parents with full access to information about classroom content and curriculum materials for review.

However, supporters of Education Without Indoctrination have filed thousands of pages of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the teaching materials and even emails of Newton teachers. Along with administrators, individual teachers have been subject to harassment and threats. Teachers and administrators have spent countless hours responding to FOIA requests; hours that should have been spent devoted to doing their jobs.

These hostile actions amount to turning our rights and freedoms into weapons to intimidate our teachers, administrators, and school personnel, ultimately, having a chilling effect on our teachers' ability to teach about controversial subjects.

We urge the Newton School Committee and School Department to fully support our teachers and insulate them as much as possible from this harassment. We request that teachers immediately be provided with expert legal and administrative support in dealing with FOIA requests, and that the Newton Police Department investigate any incidents in which teachers or other school personnel are harassed or threatened.

We thank you for the work that you do and look forward to your prompt response on this important matter.