Is it public education or indoctrination?

Few can argue the point these days that the overall atmosphere of this country is volatile.

Thin skin abounds and there seems to rarely be time for deep thinking and thorough study of a topic.

And heaven forbid trying to find that the truth DOES usually lie in the middle, rather than gobbling up what is spoon fed to us in whatever medium we receive our news and information.

I’ve coined the term “skews” which I think adequately covers it on both sides of the ideological aisle. No one is particularly guilty and no one is really innocent when it comes to how they craft a message we think of as news.

Recently, a Fort Wayne, Ind. middle school teacher, Sarah Ford, assigned her eight-grade honors Spanish class the task of translating a news article of their choice from English to Spanish.

Todd Hein’s 14-year-old son did just that. But where this got ugly was the youngster cited Fox News. He used the network as a source for an incident involving the U.S. Navy and a UFO encounter. Hardly opinion and not even close to anything political where some opinions might be woven.

And that’s where Ford took issue with the young man’s work.

According to Hein’s son, he was singled out in front of class and admonished for his source, with Ford using the well-worn “fake news” mantra. Then Ford doubled-down, requiring the student to do a new assignment. That being to look up any of the many lies President Donald Trump has told.

Not sure how old Ms. Ford is, but I’m guessing she did not require former students to investigate the previous administration’s famous claims of, “If you like your doctor you can keep him,” or health insurance premiums will not increase?

There are many crucial points this incident helps bring out of the shadows.

First, how are middle schoolers able to process something like this? Hey, there are many a college student who are unable to think outside the box, and more importantly their personal echo chamber.

And one can understand when college students pay to play and experience this. Plus, hopefully, they are a little better equipped to mentally process such bias — and maybe push back.

WOWO news, which broke the story in the community of some 260,000 just south of Indiana’s border with Michigan, reported that dad and mom met with both the teacher and administrators in a closed-door setting, and Todd Hein recorded the session just to make sure of what was said.

Ford admitted the allegations as being true and an investigation ensued. But the Hein family — investors so-to-speak in the Fort Wayne Community School system — are not privy to the findings.

What we do know is that Ford still has a job, and the spotlight must not have had any sobering effect. Three days after the original incident, the assignment was to have students write — in Spanish of course — how Trump failed to adequately support Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria last September.

Puerto Rico, Ms. Ford may or may not know, is far from the condition of an urban setting like New Orleans. And look at how long — and how totally inept — much of the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) efforts were there in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

This incident is wrought with so many questions and so few answers. But two stand out.

Should the personal — and specific — politics of a teacher be on display in a public school classroom paid for by people of all ideological stripes?

And in what I surmise is supposed to be the apolitical arena that public schools should exist in, might it not be one heck of a teachable moment to hear both sides on an issue?

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].