Kamla Harris “hires more people to watch the border” and “limits how many people can move to the U.S.”
Donald Trump “finds and catches people in the U.S. illegally” and “takes children away from their parents.”
Those lessons and others were recently included in a two-page document doled out to students at Kapolei Middle School just outside of Honolulu, enraging parents over the obvious bias against the Republican presidential nominee on six critical issues, KHNL reports.
Parent Angel Morales told the news site she’s “very upset” with the misleading comparison, which was crafted by a group of teachers based off a candidate comparison from The New York Times.
“I think teachers should do their job as teachers; stick to education and not politics,” Morales said.
“I thought it was a little biased,” parent Natasha Heffernan agreed. “I don’t think that it is right, especially at that age level.”
Other parts of the worksheets claim Harris wants to “keep our Earth healthy,” while Trump “wants to keep using lots of coal, oil, and gas.” Harris “wants to keep our country a democracy” and “works to make sure people can vote,” but Trump “wants to diminish the electoral system,” according to the lesson.
The Hawaii Department of Education issued a statement about the lesson for sixth-graders it claims was designed to “help students understand the candidates’ positions on key issues.”
“Teachers simplified this information to make it accessible for young students, striving to remain factual and unbiased. The intent was to encourage independent thinking and discussion among students, not to promote any particular view,” the statement read. “We acknowledge that the interpretation and simplification of complex issues can sometimes result in perceived imbalances, particularly when presenting nuanced political topics to younger audiences, but we remain committed to maintaining a balanced learning environment.”
The Hawaii State Teachers Association, which endorsed Democrats in all but one of more than three dozen state races, defended the misleading lessons in a prepared statement, despite state policy that requires instruction on an “objective, and factual basis.”
“Both the HSTA, Board of Education and the DORE support student discussion of issues that may generate opposing points of view as an important part of the learning process,” the statement read. “Age-appropriate civic education helps students develop a meaningful awareness and respect for the U.S. Constitution and individual rights.
“It fosters students’ recognition of individual freedom and social responsibility to vote,” it continued. “Teachers create lessons to allow students to study, investigate, process, and develop their own opinions about the world and themselves.”
