A San Antonio charter school recently had an eighth-grade history class work out the pros and cons of slavery for an assignment. The worksheet for this particularly unsettling bit of homework was posted on Facebook by a local musician Roberto Livar, which conveniently saw the positive column of the sheet filled in with a simple "N/A."
The concerned parent expressed some angry sentiments towards the teacher who handed out the assignment. "What the hell is this revisionist history lesson trying to achieve here?!? Mr. Thomas’ 8th Grade History class at Great Hearts Monte Vista here in San Antonio, TX- asking my student to balance the positive and negative aspects of #Slavery in the US??? What positives??? This is unacceptable and gross. There will most definitely be a parent/student/teacher/administrator meeting taking place ASAP!!!"
In response, the Great Hearts superintendent Aaron Kindel issued an apology on Facebook, calling the assignment "very inappropriate and entirely inconsistent" with school's core values. "To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity."
Kindel notes how "Great Hearts is taking this seriously, including placing this teacher on leave while we have time to collect all the facts. We will also conduct an audit of the American History textbook we’re using, Prentice Hall Classics: A History of the United States. If we deem this textbook imprudent we will permanently remove and replace it with a history book that accurately reflects our values."
Furthermore, Kindel reveals how "the headmaster and teachers at the Monte Vista North campus will spend time with the impacted students to explain the mistake and engage them in lessons that are more thoughtful about this period of American History."
