Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts provided ninth-grade students with a math assignment about “systematic racism,” according to documents obtained by Defending Education (DE).
DE exclusively shared with Townhall the assignment from May 12, 2025. The assignment was focused on incarceration rates of people who were white, black, and Hispanic. One part of the question tells students: “Explain how you believe systematic racism creates the data displayed by the above timeplot.”
"Newton Schools work hard to ensure that their captive audience of students uncritically adopts their preferred world view — even in math class. What happens if a student doesn't believe in structural racism? Do they fail 9th grade math?" Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for DE, told Townhall.
This isn’t the first time Defending Education sounded the alarm about this school district.
Late last year, Newton South High School’s Gender and Sexual Awareness club (GSA) and Gender Equity Club (GEC) sponsored and organized events for LGBTQ+ Awareness Day during the school day on December 18th. Teachers had the option to sign up to bring their classes to participate in these events.
The school newsletter stated, “Students who may not be ready to engage with this material can be dismissed to cancelled class in the auditorium.” This suggested that students who did not care to participate in a pro-LGBTQ+ event simply weren’t “ready” to do so.
In the final week before the holiday break, Newton South High School’s Gender and Sexual Awareness club (GSA) and Gender Equity Club (GEC) have been put in charge of sponsoring and organizing events for LGBTQ+ Awareness Day during the school day on December 18th. According to the…
— Defending Education (@DefendingEd) December 17, 2024
That’s not all. Two years ago, Defending Education filed a civil rights complaint against the school district with the US Department of Education. The complaint centered around discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance in violation of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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