Results from the May 6 Town Election have been released. View them here.
Institutional neutrality is the idea that an educational institution should not take political stances and should, in the words of The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, “host critics—not become the critic itself.”
Though generally applied in the context of colleges and universities, themes regarding institutional neutrality have gained some traction locally, including in a February piece by Opinions Managing Editor Elias Brendel and a suggested proposal for a district-wide political signage policy that would have, in part, banned unapproved “Political, religious, or commercial advertisements” from being displayed on school property.
The Cypress interviewed five of the six School Committee candidates in the upcoming May 6 Town Election and asked the following general question: “Is institutional neutrality an achievable goal in Brookline? If so, is it an admirable one?”
Here is what they had to say.
The quotes below represent selected portions of longer interviews conducted in person and over the phone. Candidates were posed the same questions, although all responded in varying manners. Unless otherwise noted, each statement was made in direct response to the question above.
Helen Charlupski (Incumbent)
“It’s not a simple answer. I think that there’s free speech and everybody should be accorded free speech. That stops when you start a hate speech. That stops when you say antisemitic things, when you say racist things, when you say islamophobic things, that’s not acceptable. I think if we are teaching a course, we need to teach all sides of it and teach the history so that students can come to their formulation of what happened and what should happen.”
“…Probably eight years ago, there was a teacher who showed a videotape that happened to be Palestinian propaganda. Now, whether he knew it or not, I don’t know. To me, if you’re not giving kids background and not telling them that this is propaganda, that’s not appropriate teaching. That’s not to say you can’t show it, but you have to explain it, and the kids need to have enough background to understand it, where the conflict came from, what the history was, going way back.”
Do you think the high school’s Days Of programming fits with a goal of institutional neutrality?
“I think it [the Day of Racial Reform and Solidarity] probably needs to be rethought a little bit. I think it’s important that kids speak from what they know and say what they feel. Because that’s different than politic[s], necessarily. And if you can keep it on that level, I think then they can connect with other kids. That’s the purpose of it. To connect. It’s not to preach, it’s not to argue. It’s to say, ‘this is what I’m feeling, and I’d like you to know that.’”
Akiva Leibowitz
“It’s very fashionable to talk about this now. I’m not sure that the discussion and the concepts completely translate to something that is very relevant or applicable in the context of schools or particularly public schools.”
“…While the concept, as most people understand the institutional neutrality as creating a framework for higher education institutions to carry out their ultimate goal of true inquiry and curiosity and discovery and truth while promoting and safeguarding free speech and autonomy, it is being used to cut down voices which perhaps do not align with the status quo or the current prevailing atmosphere. That is, there is no real such thing as neutrality, right? Nothing is neutral in our world. Remaining silent is also a stance.”
“…The question we should be asking is whether we are providing an environment which allows the stakeholders as educators and students and newspapers to speak freely, express themselves without fear of retribution to share their feelings to have an opinion and world views. We want our youngsters to be critical thinkers, to have to think about this world in many different ways about its faults, about its successes, and we want them to be engaged, and the only way of being engaged is actually having an opinion.”
“…What will happen when, one day, [the] federal government will require reports of students’ immigration status[es]? Right now, the policy of [the] Brookline Town and schools is not to cooperate with that, right? Anyone who is a staunch supporter of institutional neutrality might argue, by opposing such demands, we are violating neutrality. So I think it’s a tool which is being used by different players for different motivations, but I’m not sure it’s in good faith.”
“…There are situations where it’s difficult, where it’s messy, where sometimes, we will make mistakes, we will err, people will offer a position which may not be worded in a particular way that is accepted by everyone, but that’s fine. We need to trust our educators [and] trust our teachers in being able to navigate through this, and we also need to give them some leeway of also making mistakes like we all do as human beings.”
Danna Perry
“…My thinking is a little bit more geared towards allowing contradictory ideas to coexist, or this idea of a paradoxical mindset, so it’s a little bit different than institutional neutrality. I would say it’s a higher bar. In my ideal world, BHS would be a community where we can have opposing ideas, contradicting ideas, varying ideas expressed freely, and foster more open dialogue by exploring multiple viewpoints. After reading Elias [Brendel’s] piece, that’s where I’m like, ‘are we doing that?’ ‘Are we doing that at all?’”
“…I would love to understand what Elias is talking about and do we even have a pulse on what students are thinking about this and feeling and what their actual experiences are? I’m finding it really hard with certain issues [because] I can tell you what my position is. I can’t tell you what the right thing to do is or what a policy should be or how I would vote on something. I need to talk to a lot of people. I need to understand what’s happening on the ground or how people are feeling or what their experiences are. That’s where I would want to spend a lot of time and work.”
Logan Potere
“A school or public institution should provide a safe environment for differing opinions to be shared, to be heard, so that others can learn, maybe frame an opinion, maybe change an opinion, but I think the key word there is a safe environment, right? There should not be space within that neutrality that promotes opinions or speech that is hateful.
“…I think the big topic here in Brookline since Oct. 7 [2023] is islamophobia and antisemitism. Those things should not be harbored or deemed ‘safe.’ You need to respect others’ opinions, but that doesn’t mean you respect others’ racism. I think that’s where it gets tough as a public institution to say what can and cannot be said. Again, I do think it’s extremely important that people hear others’ opinions and that we are able to share our opinions and our beliefs, but I think there is a line in what should and should not be allowed.”
Does school administration have an obligation to take a stance to protect its students, even if that stance technically violates a policy of institutional neutrality?
“I think it’s hard to go through life and have the position that you can make a decision that will not offend someone. And I think the question you bring up is, how do you go about as a body that supports 7,000 students, plus many more as administrators, employees, etc., and, in a highly charged political discussion, not offend someone. By saying nothing, you could be offending a large portion of people and by saying a very apolitical statement, that we don’t stand for violence, you could be offending others. I think it’s the right of the institution to make a statement that is apolitical in nature but calls out the immorality of the situation.
“By promoting neutrality, but also trying to protect the students’ wellbeing (and if we’re talking about a non-physical example, that’s someone’s emotional wellbeing), they may look to the school to say something. ‘Does the institution I’m a part of believe in what I believe in?’ If you’re not calling out what I may believe in, you may be offending me and I may not have belief that as a school you have my wellbeing at heart. And I may look to you for that sort of guidance.
“I think that’s the fine line, that, as an institution, to say ‘this is what I stand for’ by moral code. Again, you need to allow students to feel free to express their opinions, but that needs to be done in a way that isn’t harming the other side and vice versa, and I think it’s up to the institution to provide some of that framework but in a way that is not necessarily calling favor to one or the other but saying, ‘This is what we stand for.’”
Bob Weintraub
“Teachers teach kids how to think, but not what to think. I’m here to open your brain, to open your mind. I’m not here to tell you to believe in my own political or societal views. No. That’s not my job. And if I do say something as an English teacher or as a social studies teacher, that has a political overtone, I have to be very open, say, ‘Listen, I’m gonna say something here. This is my opinion. This is my opinion. So I’m not here to convince you of that. I’m just saying, as long as we’re talking about it, I’ll express myself.’ But mainly not. Mainly, ‘What do you think? What do you think? Let’s talk, let’s—okay, you said that. Let’s analyze that. What’s the implication of….’ You know, that’s called teaching.”
“…The issue is, does a school like Brookline High School take an antiwar position as a school? Against what’s going on in Gaza, for example, or what’s going on in Ukraine, or what’s going on in this country. Does the school itself take a political position? And my feeling is, it’s dangerous. Once you go down that road, who’s making those decisions? Who’s standing up for the school, who represents the school? Because you’ve got a lot of people here, and you have to be very careful. If I’m gonna say something you disagree with, I’m not gonna represent the school because there are people in the school who disagree with it. It’s dangerous.
“On the other hand, you have to talk about controversial stuff. That’s hugely important.”
Valerie Frias (Incumbent) could not be reached for comment.
The 2025 Town Election will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6. To read the views of the School Committee candidates on a broader array of topics, visit Brookline.News.
