Teachers in Texas are told they must teach ‘opposing’ views of the Holocaust

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The Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, is in the spotlight after an administrator reportedly instructed teachers to provide students with «opposing views of the Holocaust when the subject of recent statewide legislation came up.

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When contacted by NPR with a request for comment, school district officials pointed to Ledbetter’s previous statement.

In a statement to NBC News, Karen Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the district, said that teachers across the state were put in a «precarious position due to House Bill 3979.

«Our purpose is to support our teachers in ensuring they have all of the professional development, resources and materials needed. Our district has not and will not mandate books be removed nor will we mandate that classroom libraries be unavailable, she wrote.

Holocaust comments are the latest in a string of controversies

Numerous local political leaders have chimed in on the claims, including Texas state Sen. Kelly Hancock, who argued that Southlake’s actions had nothing to do with the bill.

«School administrators should know the difference between factual historical events and fiction, he wrote on Twitter. «Southlake just got it wrong. No legislation is suggesting the action this administrator is promoting.

Another state senator, Beverly Powell, tweeted, «Already, we are seeing the impact of a vague and unnecessary bill that leaves teachers and administrators confused and afraid to teach the history of the Holocaust or the Civil War without teaching ‘both sides.'

News of the Southlake scandal comes on the heels of more drama in the district, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Late last year, a fourth-grade teacher faced disciplinary action after a parent complained that their child had brought home a book about being «anti-racist, according to the NBC News report.

Southlake was also the setting of parent clashes over critical race theory that made headlines earlier this year.