Teachers
foster election debate
But not all share their preference
Monday, October 18, 2004 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
If the "Bush-Cheney'04" screensaver on Gerard Gonnella's
office computer or the autographed picture of Ronald Reagan
on the wall aren't enough, the history and government
teacher at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School will tell you
outright: He's a Republican.
"And I have been a registered Republican since I was
18," he said. "It's who I am."
But once the door closes to his law and government class
and the day's lesson turns to Bush vs. Kerry, Gonnella said
he tries to toe a more bipartisan line.
Gonnella, who is also the dean of students at the
private school in Edison, said he doesn't hide his politics,
but not at the expense of other points of view. He called
his textbook "very liberal," and said he even has a
subscription to the Democratic National Committee's
literature.
"I just want the students to gain the passion, I want
them to buy into something, whether Republican or
Democratic," he said last week. "When they leave the class,
I want them talking."
The balance isn't lost on his students, not that they
mind a little partisanship, either. "We know nobody is
completely neutral when it comes to politics," senior Lexi
Correll said.
That is especially true this presidential election, a
campaign so polarizing it has divided homes and workplaces.
And schools are not immune, leaving some teachers grappling
with how and where their politics and instruction mix -- and
sometimes collide.
Three weeks ago, a South Brunswick middle-school teacher
made national headlines after she was reassigned over
concerns she was too partisan in her teaching.
A volunteer at the Republican National Convention, the
English teacher displayed in her classroom a portrait of
President Bush and the first lady, and allegedly chided one
student for being a Democrat, an accusation she denied.
In interviews with other teachers and administrators,
few sympathized with those circumstances, especially since
the students were younger. But they concurred it is a
sensitive topic for any age in this election year, where,
like everybody else, most teachers have taken sides.
There are few hard-and-fast rules, beyond consensus that
the topic should only come up when part of a lesson and a
teacher should never openly campaign for a candidate in
class. Most agree wearing a campaign button is out.
But division comes when it goes further than that, and
whether a teacher should divulge to students his or her
preference at all.
Peggy Stewart is a social studies teacher at Vernon High
School and an unabashed Democrat in support of Sen. John
Kerry. But she's much more willing to talk about that with
her seniors than her freshmen.
"You have to be cautious about sharing your opinion
before the students have expressed their own," said Stewart,
a teacher for 14 years. "The influence there can be
heavy."
She says her freshmen have asked her preference and she
has so far deferred. Some have likely figured it out, she
said.
"First of all, when I say I am bringing a world view,
the sharper ones know right away," said Stewart, the state's
Teacher of the Year in 2004. "I run a model U.N., I promote
the work of international organizations. Clearly, these are
all signs I would not be in the Bush camp."
With the older students, she said she is less hesitant.
But she tries to focus on how she -- as well as the students
themselves -- would come to that decision, what issues are
at play.
"There are teachers who go in and say I will never tell
them, but the kids know," she said. "If you are going to
have a close relationship with the kids, they have to know,
that's part of building a relationship."
Jim Connor, a teacher for more than 20 years, doesn't
quite see it that way, and said he tries his best to keep
his politics entirely out of his history and government
classes at Blair Academy, a Blairstown boarding school.
"I don't think that is appropriate for the classroom,"
said Connor, who also is chairman of the history department.
"You influence students in so many ways, and I would just
want to stay out of the debate."
A lifelong Democrat from Massachusetts, Connor actually
finds himself almost overcompensating, in his case making an
extra effort to present Bush in a favorable light.
"For a reading for next week, I worked hard to find
articles more in support of the president," he said.
So far, Connor thinks he has veiled his opinions pretty
well, and even had a parent tell him so last year. "I got a
letter from a father in Texas who congratulated me that his
daughter did not actually know my party affiliation," he
said. "That was a compliment."
Gonnella, the Wardlaw-Hartridge dean who has taught for
nine years, would not likely get that letter. In fact, it's
hard at the school not to know where his politics lie -- and
many students appear to be fine with that.
Gonnella and Robert Paoli, an English teacher in the
Kerry camp, regularly get into a public parry on the
election in the school's Morning Meeting, a school-wide
forum for announcements, talks and other asides.
"It's more interesting to see someone have a passion for
it and to be involved, where you can really debate ideas,"
said senior Elizabeth Levine, a student in Gonnella's
government class who comes from the more conservative
camp.
Added classmate Henry Rosoff: "You know where his biases
lie. If you take it for what it is, it makes for a better
discussion."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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