Email to and from Emily Norton - submission to Emily Nortons Great Newton Schools blog (www

Email to and from Ward 2 Alderman Emily Norton Submission to Emily Nortons Great Newton Schools blog (www.GreatNewtonSchools.org) and Ms. Nortons response

Subject: New Form Entry: Contact FormTo:emily_norton@hotmail.comFrom:no-reply@weebly.comDate: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:53:26 -0700

You've just received a new submission to your Contact Form.NameKerry Hurwitz

EmailKerrySH@post.harvard.edu

CommentEmily - I wrote a Summary of Issues facing certain sections of the 9th grade history curriculum. It's available at www.NewtonExcellence.org or I can send a copy to youk I'd need an email address.

I'm sure that if you read it you will see the need for some changes. Do you care enough about Newton students to look at the materials they use?

Kerry Hurwitz____________________________________________________________________________________

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 10:32 pm

curriculum

FromEmily Norton emily@greatnewtonschools.orghide details

Tokerrysh kerrysh@post.harvard.edu

Kerry,

Thanks for emailing me, I dont have time to look at the materials but I appreciate you offering.

Ever since going from part time to full time work I have had to cut back on the blog which is 100% volunteer.

Emily

Norton has been extremely derogatory towards parents and other citizens concerned about class materials (see next pages). How is it possible to defend material youve never read, from criticism youve never read?From Great Newton Schools blog published by Emily Norton

www.GreatNewtonSchools.orgSuperintendent statement re history curriculum12/02/2012The superintendent has posted a statement re the history curriculum and the controversy over the materials used in one classroom, you can find ithere.

I am sure it won't be enough for some people but it's sufficiently explanatory for me.

1 Comment

Kerry Hurwitz

HYPERLINK "http://www.newtonexcellence.org/" link12/07/2012 8:45am

I read the statement also; it described the aims of the History Department very well. I would call it a description rather than an explanation, however, as the statement describes the history departments philosophy and goals but does not attempt to explain anything. I hope that in the not-too-distant future we will see a similar report describing how and why unsuitable material was (and may still be) used Newton schools for so many years; describing how the NPS will ensure that school materials are accurate and fair and setting a strategy to prevent future problems. This report is a good first step, though

I would also like a reasonable explanation, or a change of policy, regarding the NPS policy of not allowing anyone including parents to view curricula and materials. Its unbelievable that parents must file a formal public records request, and then file an appeal with the Department of Public Records, to receive the curriculum for their childs class If our schools are so "excellent", why does the NPS go to considerable time and expense with our money - to prevent people from knowing what happens in the classroom?

Im unclear about something you wrote - who are you referring to when you say that the statement "won't be enough for some people". Who are these people, and why do you believe they will feel the statement isnt enough?

It doesnt seem that you know the people you are referring to, otherwise you wouldnt be calling them some people How then do you know what these people think and feel? Many people find it a challenge to understand even their own spouses motives and feelings, much less those of strangers What basis have you for claiming to know the inner life of people youve never met, except for your own stereotypes?

I'm interested in your answer - you haven't answered other questions I've asked you; perhaps you think you are or should be above the fray, however as youre not above making snide remarks about people you've never met or spoken, that reasoning doesnt hold water.

It seems to be some sort of Newton phenomenon that so many people consider themselves to be of such high intelligence and perception that they can discern the motives and feelings of someone - or "some people" - they know nothing about. And what is it about those people that you dislike so much?

You claim to be concerned about education in the Newton public schools. Shouldnt the fact that those people are also concerned about the education of Newtons children, and have provided important information about school materials resulting in important changes, be appealing to you? Or are you having a knee-jerk reaction based on God-knows-what to what you believe, based on self-created, false stereotypes about people you know nothing about that these people are somehow doing something wrong?

What is wrong with not wanting students to read overtly anti-semitic material? Students are not being given these readings for the purpose of critical analysis or comparison. The material with the anti-semitic statement was a reading about Arab women; the anti-semitic statement was an aside to main focus of the article. The reading is publicly available at www.newtonexcellence.org; after you read it, please let me know whether you want your children to learn this in school

Take a look at the other information also. Do you want students to be taught incorrect facts about population, laws, and history? If not, you should be thanking the textbook activists, not making snide remarks.

And what have you done to ensure the accuracy of school materials? I look forward to hearing the answer to these questions.

(no response received)___________________________________________________________________________

Newton School Committee responds to charges of anti Semitism11/18/2012A small number of Newton residents are concerned that NPS is teaching "a radical Islam agenda". As this Newton Tabarticlelays out, their concerns were first raised last year when a parent discovered his child had been assigned four pages from the "Arab World Notebook". The superintendent subsequently reported that the offending pages had been removed from the curriculum and so are no longer used as teaching materials.This is incorrect. Concerns about the Notebook were first raised in October, 2011 and raised again approximately January , 2012. During the latter time, citizens were continually told that all chapters of the Notebook had been removed, when in fact it the purported removal was not even discussed until June, 2012. As it turns out, the supposed removal was not fully carried out and the text remained in use through 2013.

The group members continue to speak during public comment time at School Committee meetings, however, and as someone who is a frequent audience member myself I am in complete agreement with this recentNewton Tab op-edby School Committee Vice Chair Matt Hills:

Recently a small but vocal group of residents and non-residents have leveled accusations against our school system, including charges that we use material that is anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and puts the U.S. and the West in a poor light. Some of the accusations have included what I consider to be offensive and bigoted comments about Muslims and Islam, comments which have no place in any community let alone in an open meeting of the Newton School Committee....The offensive and bigoted comments was a citizen reading from a text used in high school history classes. He was objecting to the description of pre-Islamic Arabia as barbaric.

I find the notion that we use such hateful material and indoctrinate our students with anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel biases to be ridiculous. This is a not a situation where we believe it is ok to teach bigotry because of "academic freedom"; rather, I find the accusations to be contrived and false.The well-respected Committee on Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), Fordham Foundation, Institute for Jewish and Community Research, Verity Educate, and other organizations disagree, especially (but not only) with respect to the Arab World Studies Notebook, which is what Hills is complaining about. CAMERA directly refuted Hills claim. Hills told me that a chapter claiming that Israeli soldiers routinely torture, imprison and kill Arab women was perfectly acceptable and objected strenuously to its removal.

32 Comments (excerpted)Alison Leary11/18/2012 7:23pm

Good comments by Matt Hills. With some folks, any criticism of Israel is immediately labled anti-semitic.

________________________________________________________________________________Kerry Hurwitz

HYPERLINK "http://www.newtonexcellence.org/" linkm11/19/2012 9:06am

The issue has nothing to do with Israel or any criticism of Israel, it involves using inaccurate school materials. Do you want your child to learn from a book that has been discredited by numerous educational and civic groups, including the American Jewish Committee and Association of American Educators?

Past editions of the book claimed that native Americans had Muslim names; that chapter was removed only after a Canadian tribe filed a lawsuit against the publisher. Does this book seem like a reliable source of information?

Last year my daughter's class also used a book which claimed that the late astronaut Neil Armstrong was Muslim (he wasn't), that the Muslim population of the U.S. was "four or five million" (at the time, the figure was 1.6 million) and that the Catholic church was "re-consider[ing] polygamy as a Christian option".

If you really believe that Newton schools should be using this material, give me a call and I'll tell you about a lovely bridge in Brooklyn that's available for sale.

________________________________________________________________________________Kerry Hurwitz

HYPERLINK "http://www.newtonexcellence.org/" link11/19/2012 8:51am

Have you ever actually looked at the material in question, Emily? I suspect the answer is 'no', because if you had, you would be singing a very different tune.

Please tell me how the false accusation that "Israeli occupation forces" have "Imprisoned, tortured, and killed" hundreds of Arab women in past years is not anti-Israel, as Hills claims.

Last year, my child's class read a book chapter which stated (seriously) that the Catholic church is "reconsider[ing] polygamy as a Christian option". The same book claimed that the late astronaut Neil Armstrong was Muslim (he wasn't), that the Muslim population of the U.S. was four to five million (at the time the book was written, it was 1.6 million), and contained numerous other inaccuracies.

The class also utilized material implying that rabbis and priests were intermediaries between worshippers and God (and specifically stated that Islam was free of this barrier), that Islamic conquerors were especially liberal towards conquered Christians and Jews (contemporaneous accounts disagree, even today Christians are being ethnically cleansed from Arab lands and Jews have been removed almost entirely); and that the Islamic conquest of Spain was a gesture of appreciation towards North African Berbers.

You may be happy to have your children learn this nonsense. Im not.

Hills also accuses parents of making offensive and bigoted comments and shouting angry accusations at School Committee meetings. You attend these meetings, and videotapes are available at www.newtv.org. Have you seen any of these behaviors? Ive attended or viewed almost all of them, and I havent. In fact, the only person Ive seen shouting during these meetings is Matt Hills.

Take a look at the information on www.NewtonExcellence.org and let me know if youre happy with what you see. Do you agree that the tenets of Judaism are the reason Israelis feel free to invade and re-occupy Palestinian territory at will, as a library resource stated, or that opposing anti-Israel U.N. resolutions involves compromising Americas political ideals, process and parties in the name of religion.?

In other words, why dont you try actually looking at the material instead of indulging in a knee-jerk reaction that Newton couldnt possibly be using unsuitable material because were so excellent? I have no doubt that if you actually read the material and thought for yourself, you wouldnt be so quick to condemn those who dare question the mighty school gods youre so in enthralled with.

(no response received)

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