WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Parents told the West Hartford Board of Education on Wednesday night that they are concerned about how Israel and the Middle East are taught in the town's public schools, questioning the vetting of outside materials and speakers and asking the district to make classroom content easier for families to see.

The comments came during the public communications portion of the board's regular meeting. Under board rules, members do not respond to public comments.

Outside materials questioned

One resident, who told the board she was addressing members "as the gatekeepers of the curriculum," asked who reviews materials, speakers and trainers brought in from outside organizations before they reach students and teachers. "Are teachers free to use materials, for example, from Al Jazeera or Qatara Media or terrorist-funded news sources?" she asked.

She said she had downloaded free curriculum items from a website she spelled out as "C-A-I-R-C-T.com," including a map and chart of the worldwide Muslim population. "Guess which country is missing from both the chart and the map?" she said. "Israel, home to 1.8 million Muslims." She also cited a Muslim Heritage Month coloring book and asked whether the district offers similar materials for other religious traditions.

She disputed a statement she said appeared in the same materials, that Muslims accepted Jews and Christians as protected communities with complete religious freedom. "This is absolutely not true," she said. She asked the district to publish its review process and a list of outside presenters and materials approved this year.

Genocide assignment and textbook

Another parent said that the district now posts course objectives under state law and board policy, calling that "a real step forward," but said the documents "don't tell a parent what's actually being taught."

"My concern is how the Middle East and Israel are taught," she said. She told the board that across 243 posted curriculum documents, Israel is mentioned only five times, while "a genocide studies assignment asks students to apply a genocide framework to a country of their choice."

She said a human rights course draws its questions from advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch "that have accused Israel of apartheid and genocide," and that the course file names no source giving Israel's side. She also said an anthropology textbook planned for this year "describes Israel's founding as colonization."

"I'm not saying any teacher is doing something wrong," she said. "I'm saying I can't tell, and neither can you from what's posted."

Another speaker asked the board to publish a district-wide curriculum review schedule and to hold a public meeting on curriculum access, outside materials and speakers.