Nearly two weeks after Maumee Schools removed a controversial extra-credit assignment from a 10th-grade history class syllabus, district officials are organizing a new work group that is tasked with finding a better way for teachers to vet content before they bring it into their classrooms.
Andrea Cutway, mother of 16-year-old student Avery Lewis, sent an email on Oct. 13 to district administrators expressing concerns about an extra-credit assignment involving right-wing website PragerU, or Prager University. PragerU contains links to five-minute, narrated videos with names like: “Why I Left the Left,” “How Socialism Ruined My Country,” “Immigrants! Don’t Support What You Fled,” “War on Boys,” and “The Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party.” It also features podcasts, short documentaries, and talk-show-style content.
The extra-credit opportunity in question, which was removed by district officials on Oct. 20, gave students a chance to watch the material and answer questions and prompts. Ms. Lewis and others have criticized the material’s promotion of right-wing talking points and policies.
Michelle Shafer, the district’s director of teaching & learning, is among those who will serve on the new committee, which is comprised of teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents, and community members. She said the group will try to create a tool that will assist teachers in vetting resources brought into the classroom.
“We want to make sure that the content presented can be validated and that the sources are recognized as unbiased experts in the content area,” she said.
However, some individuals who have denounced the PragerU assigned are also skeptical about the new committee.
Catherine Wood, a Maumee High School class of 2001 alumnus, said she is wary of the work group providing a viable solution.
“I’m curious as to what is the timeline for this to be rolled out?” she said. “How will teachers be trained on this tool? Will the use of the tool be monitored? Because if it’s just going to be words on a piece of paper, obviously it’s not going to make a difference in the environment kids are exposed to in their school.”
Ms. Wood was among more than 200 alumni — ranging from the classes of 1963 to 2020 — who attached their names to a letter outlining concerns about the PragerU content. The letter was sent to board of education members and administrators.
“The racism, misogyny, classism, anti-LGBTQ+, and ethnocentrism found in the PragerU videos are impermissible. The videos include a rejection of data and facts, and should not be presented to students as valid,” the letter stated.
The letter continues to address what participating alumnus view as problematic socioeconomic viewpoints.
“Stating that white privilege, the gender wage gap, and systemic racism do not exist, that black people commit more crimes than other races, and that women don’t have the same work/life priorities as men is not simply one side of an issue. These statements are dangerous, false, and have no place in a classroom,” the letter stated.
During a board meeting on Oct. 26, Superintendent Todd Cramer said the extra-credit assignment was intended to develop student’s critical thinking skills.
He added that the opportunity was a two-part assignment asking students to examine political cartoons from sites presenting conservative, moderate, and liberal viewpoints and analyze the cartoon’s context, tone, and content. The second portion of the assignment was for students to view a video from PragerU.
“ A second part of the optional extra-credit assignment asked students to view a video from PragerU, analyze it, explain what they may have learned from it, as well as explain how it may have challenged or supported their own beliefs,” he said.
Ms. Cutway said the district has yet to denounce the appropriateness of using PragerU content in its classrooms.
“This has nothing to do with challenging students or offering them a choice by giving them both sides. Maumee has completely failed to understand the inappropriateness of a website like PragerU and the consequences of bringing that into a public school,” she said.
Mr. Cramer has said students and parents should bring any concerns regarding curriculum to the attention of teachers. He further added on Tuesday that the district prides itself on having an open-door policy for students to freely raise concerns.
“Our students know that they can approach the members of our administrative team, our guidance counselors, and other teachers. We will continue to have that open-door policy for all of our students and we encourage our students to step forward as we really try to teach our kids to self-advocate whenever possible,” he said.
The district said further details regarding the committee — including its first scheduled work session — are forthcoming.
First Published November 3, 2020, 11:19 p.m.
