Alaska school district admits ‘mistake’ after adding ‘does not endorse’ disclaimer to Constitution pamphlet
The Anchorage School District in Alaska admitted it made a “mistake” by adding a disclaimer saying that the school district “does not endorse these materials or the viewpoints expressed” on a flyer which solely contained the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
A parent in Anchorage was shocked to find the sticker after her daughter brought the pamphlet home, which was handed out to students in class.
“Today my daughter brought home a pamphlet with the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution,” Karen Waldron posted to Facebook. “On the back was a sticker saying that the Anchorage School District ‘does not endorse the materials or viewpoints expressed in them.’”
“I was honestly stunned,” Waldron continued. “These aren’t controversial documents, they are the foundation of our country and what our students are supposed to be learning about. Why would a school need to distance itself from the very principles we are built on?”
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“I’ll be asking the district for an explanation,” Waldron concluded in the post.
Fox News Digital spoke with Waldron on the phone, who expressed frustration about the situation and said the wording on the sticker was highly inappropriate.
Waldron explained that she fully supports transparency in education and just wants to understand the thinking behind the sticker being placed on every packet.
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Waldron also told Fox News Digital that parents deserve clarity and that if outside materials are being sent home, especially involving American founding documents, the messaging should be thoughtful and not confusing to families.
Anchorage Daily News reported that M.J. Thim, a spokesperson for the school district, said that the disclaimers were a “mistake” and that the flyers “shouldn’t have been processed” through a system that adds the stickers to materials that come from outside the school district.
“This was our mistake,” Thim wrote to the Anchorage Daily News. “The request that came in wasn’t for a flyer or poster and shouldn’t have been processed through that system. We will be following up directly with the requestor to make things right.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the school district, but did not receive a response.
The flyer was produced by Hillsdale College, as illustrated on the back of the pamphlet, which also displayed the disclaimer from the Anchorage School District.
Alaska Attorney General Stephen J. Cox also weighed in on the disclaimer on the pamphlet, calling the school district’s actions “deeply concerning.”
“The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are foundational American documents, and it is essential to teach students about the birth of our nation, their rights, and the government’s duty to protect those rights, Cox told Fox News Digital. “The stickers only invite confusion about these founding documents.”
“Shortly after the news broke, the School District took ownership, apologized, and promised corrective action,” Cox added. “The Law Department and the Department of Education and Early Development have followed up with the District with specific questions, but in a spirit of cooperation, we have offered to help review ASD’s policies and procedures to ensure it never happens again.”
Following the backlash and public spotlight on the flyer, the spokesperson from the Anchorage School District told Anchorage Daily News that the district is reviewing the process to ensure it doesn’t happen again and that the “founding documents are taught in every school and reflect the values we want every student to understand.”
Hillsdale College did not respond to a request for comment.
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