A teacher in America’s second largest school district is under scrutiny after photos of his classroom were publicly released by a parent who objected to political activism in the classroom.
The nonprofit group Parents Defending Education tweeted pictures from a classroom at Los Angeles, California’s Alexander Hamilton High School that included one showing a poster with the words “F— the Police.” Another poster said “F— Amerikkka. This is Native Land.”
One photo shows an American flag tossed on top of furniture because there’s no space left on the wall where Palestine, Black Lives Matter, transgenders and modern gay pride flags are displayed.
Parents Defending Education’s web site said the father of a student at Alexander Hamilton High School contacted the group to complain about what he called the “disgusting brainwashing of students with taxpayer dollars.” He provided the photos that were posted to the group’s Twitter account.
Replies to the photos on Twitter included some saying the photos were posted out of context, arguing they may have been part of a student project or a school assignment. Others took a different view, saying it fits a pattern of schools fostering leftist ideology.
The group’s Twitter bio describes Parents Defending Education as “a national, grassroots nonprofit empowering parents to advocate for classrooms that educate – not indoctrinate.”
Los Angeles Unified School District employs about 30,000 teachers to instruct more than 600,000 students and allows individual teachers to decorate their classrooms. District officials added not every subjective belief that any one display is political can be accommodated in a district as large and diverse as they are.
“Any displays that are determined to be overtly and objectively political or otherwise run afoul of our policies of inclusion and respectful treatment of others will be taken down and will be handled administratively” said a district spokesperson. “As the second largest school district in the nation, we hold steadfast our responsibility to listen to and consider all our stakeholders’ concerns when navigating complex or sensitive issues.”
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