This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Where is humanity in Newton

The recent ads by Americans for Peace in Tolerance (APT) referencing the repeated outcries about the use of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, Saudi-funded educational handouts, the “Arab World Studies Notebook” and “A Muslim Primer” in Newton's Public Schools resulted in numerous phone calls and letters to Matt Hills, Newton School Committee Vice-chair; Schools Superintendent David Fleishman; and Mayor Setti Warren

Did Hills breach the privacy of a Newton citizen and her child in retaliation of the ad placed by APT in local newspapers?. Hills leaked a copy of a letter sent to this private citizen (unknown to the addressee) referencing a complaint made to the Massachusetts Department of Education and Secondary Education on a similar matter to a local Newton blog. Was poor choice by Hills in response to the APT advertised issues with Newton's curriculum. At a Newton School Committee meeting, Hills later admitted his actions. Does anyone else realize the advertisement was paid for by APT, not the complainant? By releasing this letter without the knowledge of the complainant (including the complainant's name, name of her child, and home address) put this family at risk.

Public conversations on Newton blogs concerned about the source of the unauthorized sharing of this letter and a Newton parents email group deliberated on

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • The release of this letter by a public official, and

  • The NPS policy of keeping the names of Newton students private as it pertains to individual struggles over controversial items.

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After the ads were published by APT, Hills engaged the clergy of a local congregation (where Hills is a member and his wife is president) who in turn made a statement in defense of Hills and his position on these issues including equating “public character assassination that is in Jewish sources tantamount to murder”. Using the same reasoning, isn't Hill's public exposure of a Newton private citizen and her child equally “tantamount to murder”?

Does anyone else find it elusive that Hills drew his immediate Jewish community into a political issue? Remember, Hills chose to be at the forefront of come-what-may by becoming a public official. Why would the clergy and congregation of this synagogue get drawn into Hills' personal and political choices? By risking the privacy of a private citizen (and her child) after choosing to be a public representative of the electorate in Newton, can't Matt Hills be criticized for the identical cursed actions claimed were done to him?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?