By Stephen Appezzato
MIDDLETOWN – The Middletown Township School District has been accused of censoring important historical events in its school curriculum. Superintendent Jessica Alfone says this is not true.
Some Middletown teachers contacted former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-20), concerned that school officials were censoring important learning materials on the popular children’s educational website BrainPOP.
BrainPOP is a resource used by many teachers across the country for instruction. It provides informational videos on a range of topics in a digestible way. Students often also access the material for supplemental learning. On the site, certain important historical topics are marked as “sensitive,” such as the Holocaust and certain civil rights movement events, like Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Be The Change slate candidates who ran in the recent board of education election – Ashley Studd, Justin Meehan and Kelly Del Sordi – wrote on their Facebook page that school administrators can restrict access to certain BrainPOP materials for students but not for teachers, however they “decided to apply restrictions to both groups.”
During a Nov. 2 television interview, Lesniak said some teachers were concerned this material must be filtered and vetted by a “content supervisor” before students can access it.
The Middletown Township Education Association, a teacher’s union within the New Jersey Education Association, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Lesniak wrote a letter to the Middletown School Board urging it to reconsider this policy, and to “trust the professional judgement of our teachers when it comes to selecting appropriate educational materials for their classrooms.” Lesniak requested students be allowed “unrestricted” access to BrainPOP’s library, to foster “an atmosphere of creativity, critical thinking, and understanding for your students.”
But Alfone said the idea they are restricting teachers is not accurate.
“It is a completely false statement that we are restricting instruction on any topic that is required by the New Jersey Learning Standards or the administrative code. All public school-districts are required to teach these important topics, such as the Holocaust, Brown v. BOE, and other historical moments,” Alfone wrote in a statement to The Two River Times.
Alfone said districts do, however, have “autonomy” in selecting curriculum resources, such as BrainPOP, and that these resources “undergo a thorough vetting process led by a committee of educators.”
Middletown parent Michele Elena took issue with the school’s policy, saying it is appalling and an insult to educators that they “have to ‘request permission’ to view and share educational resources.” Elena described it as a “disservice to Middletown students.”
According to Elena, “this quietly began in September of 2022 without informing or obtaining input from Middletown parents” and is part of a national movement to censor and rewrite important historical moments. Candidates from the Be The Change slate shared a similar view, prior to Election Day, on their Facebook page, noting it was “done quietly, without community input.” The post went on to say the reason for the policy was “to limit students’ exposure to certain material without guidance from a teacher” and implied book banning could follow.
“This situation raises alarm bells,” Studd, Meehan and Del Sordi wrote. The slate encouraged more parents to voice their opinions about the “censorship that has occurred without our consent.”
None of the three Be The Change candidates won appointment to the school board on Election Day Nov. 7.
However, Alfone reaffirmed that the school district ensures students have “teacher-led, developmentally appropriate guidance in navigating topics that could be deemed sensitive.” When teachers propose a learning resource that is not part of the approved curriculum, it undergoes a review.
“This helps to ensure a high degree of consistency and fidelity of instruction across the district,” Alfone wrote.
According to BrainPOP, all of its content is aligned with multiple academic standards from presiding instructional bodies, including Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and various state standards. Teachers can also filter topics based on what standards it has met.
The article originally appeared in the November 9 – November 15, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
