Lawsuit Against Newton Schools, History Teachers Dropped

NEWTON, MA — The Newton school system has been under fire the past few years by groups accusing it of anti-Israel bias in the high school history curriculum. The controversy culminated in protests and a lawsuit against the district. On Wednesday, the plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit.

"We view this as an acknowledgment on the Plaintiffs’ part that their claims have no merit – a position we have maintained all along in this matter," Newton Superintendent David Fleishman said in a statement.

Residents first levied the anti-Israel claim eight years ago. The state conducted an investigation in 2013 and rejected the accusation, but that didn't deter some. A campaign of protests, rallies and advertisements led by one activist claimed that the superintendent of schools and the school committee chairman have allowed the bias to continue. The superintendent is Jewish.

In March, a group of Newton taxpayers (listed as Alan Dechter, Leon Kadis, Merry Smith, Traute Marshall, Rebecca Katz and George Flesh) filed a lawsuit against the Newton School Committee, superintendent, the principals of both high schools, and four high school history teachers in an effort to block what they said was an indoctrination of students with anti-Semitism, bigotry against Israel, and Islamist religious dogma within the history curriculum.

But with the news of the lawsuit dropped, the district said it is ready to move forward. Added Fleishman:

The history curriculum in the Newton Public Schools is not biased. It is a curriculum in which students learn factual historical information and develop an appreciation for the range of perspectives that exist on those topics. Teaching with objectivity, respect, and intellectual rigor, our faculty and administrators provide students with the skills to separate fact from opinion, challenge their own thinking, and develop opinions through the study and testing of ideas.

Fleishman said the district planned to continue to follow the curriculum guidelines established by the state. In a separate email to the community he described the legal proceedings as creating a challenging environment for our faculty and staff, particularly the educators named in the lawsuit.

"With the lawsuit behind us, we are ready to move forward together," he wrote.

School Committee chairwoman Ruth Goldman, who was named in the lawsuit, said she was pleased to see it dropped, especially going into the new school year.

"The School Committee stands behind our talented and hardworking faculty who are skilled at teaching students how to think, not what to think, and carefully align all curriculum to state frameworks," she wrote in a message to Patch.

Still, this may not be the end of the story. Because the case was dismissed voluntarily, it's dismissed without prejudice, which means it can be refiled at any time.

Previous:

• Newton History Teachers Harassed Unjustly: Superintendent
• Newton Teachers, School Committee Defend History Curriculum
• Newton North Teachers Respond To Allegations

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).