Jewish Frontline

Dear Assistant Superintendent Linden,

On Tuesday, October 16, CNN 10 was shown in AAPS classrooms. The segment (1min, 18 sec) covered Navi Pillay’s Nobel Prize and raised the allegation that Israel is committing “genocide in Gaza.” It presented the allegation without meaningful context, without competing perspectives, and without any teacher framing that we are aware of.

This matters for two reasons.

First, it appears to conflict with AAPS’s own policy. The district’s controversial issues policy (Policy 6190) requires that contested topics be presented so students can weigh multiple perspectives. Whether Israel’s conduct in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide is among the most contested questions in international law and politics today. It is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings and sharp disagreement among governments, scholars, and jurists. Presenting one side of that debate as the frame for a short news segment, to students who are still learning to evaluate sources, does not meet the district’s own standard.

Second, the stakes for Jewish students are real. We know antisemitism is rising nationally and here in Ann Arbor. When young students absorb a one-sided narrative about Israel with no context, it can spill over onto classmates who are Jewish or who support Israel, and those students get treated as stand-ins for a geopolitical conflict. But, we assume positive intent: we do not believe teachers are intentionally trying to cause harm, but we do think that without more understanding of the Jewish community’s concerns, they are ill-equipped to be sensitive to them.  

We therefore ask AAPS to do two things:

1. Publicize and encourage AAPS educators to attend the “Day of Learning – Addressing Modern Antisemitism” on March 16, 2026, widely and now. Every teacher, administrator, and curriculum staff member should know it exists and be encouraged to attend. They should understand why exposing students to one-sided narratives about the Middle East has a real impact here at home. Educators who understand the Jewish community’s concerns are better able to respond to them directly and appropriately.

2. Re-review CNN 10 against the district’s standards for classroom media, and ask CNN to label content that touches controversial issues. A short disclaimer when an episode addresses an unsettled question would let teachers apply the controversial issues policy before the video plays, not after the fact.

We are not asking AAPS to avoid hard topics or to teach any particular conclusion about the war. We are asking the district to follow its own policy and to give students the full picture on questions that are, by any honest measure, unsettled.

Respectfully,

Jewish Frontline Ann Arbor, sent on behalf of Parents of Ann Arbor Public Schools Students