By Michael Justice July 16, 2017 @ 4:28 p.m. CST
(click image to enlarge)
Assignment by: Gene Ponder,
AP Economics/Government Teacher
Spanish Fort High School,
Spanish Fort, Alabama.
* Former students confirm that this list (or one very similar) has been in-use for at least 4 years.
Ever since the biased summer reading assignment of AP Government teacher Gene Ponder went viral online last month, he has has been facing continued criticism. Despite initial outrage, the underlying motives behind why Ponder created his biased assignment have not been reported on – until now.
Through a source very close to Ponder, Independent Press Journal (IPJ) has learned the reasons why the teacher created such a biased reading assignment.
Why the bias?
IPJ discovered that Ponder created the right-leaning biased summer reading assignment because he sought to balance out the “communist socialist agenda” being taught at his school – Spanish Fort High School in Alabama.
“Communist Socialist Agenda”
The source close to the teacher explained that Ponder’s intention was to give students the other side. “They have a teacher in the 11th grade that they take prior to [Ponder’s] class, [the teacher] teaches the opposite side, [the teacher] teaches more the communist socialist agenda.”
In front of City Hall,
Spanish Fort, Alabama
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Communism in Alabama: A stretch.
It’s hard not to think about 1950’s McCarthyism when someone claims a “communist socialist agenda” is being taught at school.
However, to go as far as saying that a school in Southern Alabama, of all places, is teaching a “communist socialist agenda,” and even suggesting that teachers at public schools be allowed to teach with a bias towards a conservative ideology in order to balance out the communism – is far-fetched.
To put things in perspective, the city of Spanish Fort Alabama flies the Confederate Flag at City Hall and has street names like “Confederate Drive” and “Lee Circle” (named after Confederate General, Robert E. Lee) prominently scattered throughout town.
If a communist socialist agenda were being taught in school, then this extremely conservative nook of America would be the last place anyone would expect to find it.
Street names in Spanish Fort, Alabama
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“They’re teaching Islam in school!”
IPJ learned that the justification for the assignment also has to do with a perception that Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programming is teaching students to be “sympathetic to jihad.”
The source close to Ponder explained, “They’re teaching Islam in school, they’re teaching Access Islam [PBS] in school, and it’s supported by CAIR [Center for American Islamic Relations], and it has the kids being very sympathetic … supportive of their cause, and even leaning towards being sympathetic to jihad.”
When the idea of tolerance towards Muslims was mentioned by IPJ, the source responded, “I don’t understand why everyone’s tolerant of everything but conservative values,” and, “conservatives in America face the same type of prejudice as Muslims do – especially white males.”
“[PBS] is not necessarily giving both sides to the story,” the source explained, “it’s ok to be racist towards white males, you know, but it’s not ok to, to be, to have any other views.”
Access Islam: Tolerance not Jihad
Access Islam, a program produced by PBS, was funded in 2005 – during the Bush Administration – to educate Americans and promote tolerance towards the Muslim community in the wake of hate crimes targeting Muslims across the country at that time.
According to the PBS website, “[Access Islam] is designed to help students gain awareness and understanding of the diversity of religions and religious experiences, and the reasons for particular expressions of religious beliefs within a society or culture.”
Claims that Access Islam teaches students – or anyone else for that matter – to be sympathetic to jihad are widely unsubstantiated and rejected by academics and leaders of all faiths.
Communism and Islam were described as Ponder’s motives for creating his biased reading assignment. IPJ investigated these claims and interviewed current and former students at Spanish Fort High School who have taken the alleged “communist” History course and Ponder’s Government course.
Students say: Whaaaat?
IPJ interviewed eight former and current students from Spanish Fort High School. When asked if a “communist socialist agenda” was being taught at Spanish Fort High School, laughter was a uniformly consistent reaction from every student regardless of the their political leanings.
One former student who had taken the 11th grade History course in-question, said, “[the 11th grade teacher] did not teach us to be sympathetic to jihad, or any communist agenda. That’s ridiculous.” This student went on to say about the History teacher, “in fact, I still have no idea what [the teacher’s] personal political beliefs are, and I never did, [the teacher] just taught us history.”
Jack Morgan, a former student of Ponder’s class – and a conservative – is a supporter of Gene Ponder. Morgan also laughed when asked about “communism” being taught by his former History teacher, and said, “[the teacher] did not have a communist socialist agenda.” He also stated that he never felt that his 11th grade History teacher – or any teacher at his school – was presenting content that pushed students to be sympathetic to jihad.
Julia Coccaro, who has just completed the 11th grade History course said her teacher did not display any bias, adding, “[The teacher] taught historical facts. No communist socialist agenda, and definitely no jihad either.” Coccaro went on to say, “It’s a mistake to assume that just because someone is not loudly conservative, that they must be a communist socialist.”
When asked about Ponder’s use of class assignments to counter-balance the teachings of another teacher, Coccaro responded, “I’m absolutely horrified. That’s not the kind of education that I want at all.” She explained that she believes it is inappropriate for teachers to be using a position of authority within an academic setting to balance-out what another teacher is perceived to be doing in the classroom.
The logic that seems to have been applied by Ponder to justify his biased assignment has left some parents confused and concerned. Parent Elizabeth Denham was particularly disappointed. Her son, Luke Reosti, will be taking Ponder’s class next year. Denham said, “It’s inappropriate for a teacher to be creating an intentional slant and bias in his curriculum, for whatever reason, but especially in order to balance-out what he perceives to be someone else’s prior teachings. That’s not an education.”
One former student was not surprised that Ponder would land on an anti-communist rationalization to justify being biased in class, citing “it sounds like something Gene Ponder would say.” Another student said, “he [Ponder] would go-off on stuff just like that in class, so it doesn’t surprise me that [source] said all that.”
A third student said that Ponder would explain to students that Muslims were “trained to hate Americans,” and that Islam was not a religion, but an anti-American ideology. The student reported that after class was over – but while still at school – Ponder would use terms like “lib-tard” (a cross between the words liberal and retard) to describe liberal politicians and people. This student – who identifies as a liberal – was offended when hearing the teacher use the word “lib-tard”, but was not surprised because Ponder would often make his personal politics obvious. The student described feeling intimidated from voicing alternate opinions during Ponder’s class because the teacher would often belittle the perspectives of students if they did not share his own conservative and libertarian views.
Report Findings
Based on student interviews and his book choices, Gene Ponder is far from an objective source of information on the topic of American Government.
IPJ is unable to verify that a “communist socialist agenda” exists at Spanish Fort High School in Alabama. In fact, based on our investigation, these claims seem wildly unsubstantiated, which is why IPJ withheld the name of the alleged “communist” history teacher mentioned.
The absence of a real communist agenda at his school has not prevented Ponder himself from creating biased assignments for students.
To clarify, there is no evidence of a communist agenda at Spanish Fort High School. Therefore, Ponder’s reported rationale of balancing out communism with his partisan assignment does not hold water.
Those students interviewed have confirmed that the biased reading assignment has been in-use for at least 4 years, and that his bias is not isolated to a single summer reading assignment. Future reports by IPJ will conclusively show that Gene Ponder has – for over 10 years – intentionally and systematically infused bias content into his curriculum.
The consistent wide-scale and long-time use of unapproved, biased, and offensive material strongly suggests gross negligence at the school administrator level. Based on our investigation, it appears that Baldwin County Public Schools has been absent from effective curriculum oversight for at least the last 10 years.
If administrators were unaware of Ponder’s bias, then that brings to attention the lack of curriculum oversight and leadership that has allowed this kind of bias to go unnoticed for over a decade. If administrators were aware, then it makes the school and potentially the school district complicit in the act of intentionally promoting a specific political ideology to students.
In fact, such complicity at the district-level may not be such a stretch, especially since the Superintendent – in a letter he sent to parents and students on June 30th – said of Ponder’s book-list, “there are a few books on the list which I’d like to read. The content of the list might be of concern to some people, but it wasn’t my concern.”
Superintendent Eddie Baldwin letter to students and parents (June 30, 2017)
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IPJ’s investigation did not find evidence of a “communist socialist agenda” or sympathy towards jihad at Spanish Fort High School, and students interviewed describe their 11th grade History class as “balanced,” “fair,” and/or “accurate.” Those same students were unable to say that Ponder’s class was balanced. In fact, they consistently reported that Ponder would make his conservative and libertarian beliefs obvious.
Based on IPJ’s investigation, it appears that 12th grade AP Government and Economics teacher, Gene Ponder, creates biased assignments because he believes that a fellow teacher has a communist agenda. IPJ’s findings also show that the motive behind Ponder’s ideologically slanted teachings includes a perception that PBS teaches students to be sympathetic towards jihad, and that white men are facing the same prejudice as Muslims in America.
IPJ has uncovered classroom material that shows that Gene Ponder is using his position to spread his own ideologies in more ways than just a summer reading assignment.
The question remains as to whether the public school system in Alabama endorses a teacher that intentionally injects bias into their instruction for any reason, especially the reason of balancing out a non-existent communist agenda at school.
IPJ has reached out to the teacher, Gene Ponder; Spanish Fort High School Principal, Brian Williamson; Baldwin County Education Board Superintendent, Eddie Tyler; Baldwin County Education Board Spokesman, Terry Wilhite; Spanish Fort Mayor, Michael McMillan; Congressman, Bradley Byrne; and Spokesman for Congressman Byrne, Seth Morrows. None have responded.
last updated: 07/16/2017 @ 4:28 p.m. CST
Michael Justice is an independent contributor to IPJ who focuses on stories related to education, civil rights, and consumer protection. He holds a B.S. in Technical Management and an M.S. in Banking & Finance from Boston University. When Michael is not working on a story for IPJ, he works as a legal investigator specializing in fraud and consumer protection cases.
Email: michael.justice@independentpressjournal.com
After reading that, you call the ‘writer’ biased. Not the teacher? Lol. Wow.