KAPOLEI (HawaiiNewsNow) – The race for the White House is reaching local classrooms and one lesson has some parents raising their eyebrows.
The controversy centers on a two-page document that was distributed to classrooms at Kapolei Middle School.
Things went wrong with the positions of the US presidential candidates – Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump – on these issues.
The state Department of Education confirmed the document was compiled by a group of teachers at the school who simplified the information in a candidate comparison article in the New York Times.
Six issues are mentioned in the materials distributed to students.
Examples:
Crime:
Harris: “Gives money to the police”
Trump: “Sends soldiers to cities”
Democracy:
Harris: “Do we want to keep our country a democracy”
Trump: “I tried to overturn the 2020 election
Immigration:
Harris: “hire more people to guard the border”
“Limits how many people can move to the US
Trump: ‘Finds and arrests people illegally in the US’
“Takes children away from their parents”
The lesson upset some parents, like Angel Morales, who felt the lesson was biased against the former president.
“Very upset,” Morales said. “I think teachers should do their job as teachers are committed to education and not politics.”
The Hawaii DOE said in a statement:
The department strives to involve students in social issues in a thoughtful and impartial manner. Recently a Kapolei Middle Six class used an exercise called “It’s a competition”, adapted from an article from the New York Timesto help students understand the candidates’ positions on important issues.
Teachers have simplified this information to make it accessible to young students, striving to remain factual and unbiased. The intention was to encourage independent thinking and discussion among students, not to promote a particular view. We recognize that the interpretation and simplification of complex issues can sometimes lead to perceived imbalances, especially when presenting nuanced political topics to younger audiences, but we remain committed to maintaining a balanced learning environment.
Reactions from parents at other schools were mixed.
“I don’t care. I really appreciate that because it is important to teach students how to make informed decisions when we go to the polls,” said Christine Russo, a parent at Ewa Elementary.
“I thought it was a bit biased. I don’t think this is right, especially at that age level,” said Natasha Heffernan, another public school parent.
The teachers’ efforts to resolve the complex issues are being championed by the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
A statement said:
“Both the HSTA, the Board of Education and the DOE support student discussion of issues that may present opposing viewpoints as an important part of the learning process. Age-appropriate citizenship education helps students develop a meaningful awareness and respect for the U.S. Constitution and individual rights. It promotes students’ recognition of individual freedom and social responsibility to vote. Teachers create lessons that allow students to study, explore, process and develop their own opinions about the world and themselves.”
The DOE has not said whether the teachers involved will face disciplinary action or if there are opportunities for policy, but forwarded us the current policy, which states that DOE staff are expected to teach in an “objective and factual basic’.
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