HIGH SCHOOL Teacher Suspended For Showing Documentary About Due Process In College
A high school teacher in the wealthy suburban New York town of Bedford has been suspended for showing his students a Fox News documentary as part of a lesson plan to prepare them for college. Mike Poplardo is an economics teacher at Fox Lane High School in Bedford. In May of 2018, he spent two days on a “mini-unit” designed to prepare students for college. During this lesson, he showed students the Fox News documentary titled “Fox News Reporting: The Truth about Sex and College.” The documentary hosted by Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, tells the stories of several male students who say they were falsely accused of sexual assault, in one instance also talking to the female accuser for her perspective. It also debunks some common myths surrounding sexual assault statistics. Poplardo did not show the documentary to warn male students that they will be falsely accused by women. Instead, he used the film as a jumping off point to a larger discussion about sexual assault….Poplardo asks in his lesson plan, “Our Essential Question: What strategies can you put in place to avoid being in the ‘mess’ depicted in the video as a victim of sexual violence or a person accused of sexual violence?” He concluded the lesson plan by stating: “All people (male and female) are at risk of being a victim of sexual violence and are at risk of being accused of sexual violence so all of you should plan to use one or more than one of the strategies we have discussed to avoid being a victim and/or the accused.” (Emphasis original.) Poplardo had the students write down one strategy they would use on an index card and hand them to him before leaving class. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Poplardo said the students in his class came up with “some really cool ideas.” dailywire.com By Ashe Schow
UPDATE College Fix. Following media coverage, the school district suspended Poplardo indefinitely, according to The Daily Wire. The new charges are “misconduct and conduct unbecoming a teacher, misconduct, incompetence, and insubordination” for showing The Truth About Sex and College, which features Daily Wire reporter Ashe Schow. It certainly looks like retaliation against Poplardo by Superintendent Christopher Manno for discussing his suspension publicly. Manno had originally sought a six-month suspension for the teacher, whose monthlong suspension was scheduled to end Friday.
