This is so disturbing.....

A North Texas school district apologized late Thursday after an administrator advised teachers that if they have books about the Holocaust in their classrooms, they should also include reading materials that have “opposing” perspectives of the genocide that killed millions of Jews.

During a training session on what books teachers can have in their classroom libraries, Gina Peddy, executive director of curriculum and instruction for the Carroll Independent School District, referenced a new Texas law that requires educators to present multiple perspectives when discussing “widely debated and currently controversial” issues.

“Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979,” Peddy said on Oct. 8, according to a recording obtained by NBC News, which first reported the story. “And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives.”

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed HB 3979 into law on Sept. 1, the state prohibited teachers from discussing “a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.” The law states that if a teacher does engage in that kind of discussion in the classroom, the educator is required to “explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”

Critics of Texas’s latest policy say it could stifle conversations about historical and current events in classrooms if teachers feel required to alter how they educate students. An updated version of the law, Texas Senate Bill 3, will take effect in December. { RandomNumbers comment: I don't see a summary of the new bill in article. But, it's Texas, so … }

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The district’s issue of what books can be available in the classroom came up last year at Johnson Elementary School in Southlake, about 30 miles northwest of Dallas. Rickie Farah, who teaches fourth grade and was named a Carroll ISD teacher of the year, made “This Book Is Anti-Racist” by Tiffany Jewell available in the classroom. But when a student brought home a copy of the book — a New York Times bestseller described by Kirkus Reviews as a “guidebook for taking action against racism” — the child’s parents complained to the district that it was inappropriate for her age and grade level, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Although Carroll ISD initially decided against disciplining Farah, the school board last week voted to overturn the district’s decision and reprimanded the teacher. The move set off unease among teachers in the district, who wondered if they, too, would be disciplined for having certain books in their classrooms.


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