Mustang Public Schools admitted that the debate questions surrounding Trump posed at Mustang High School only presented “one side of the issue” while confirming it has removed from future classes.
An image of the questions was shared on social media.
The question read: “It was announced that President Trump openly lied to the American people, Congress, and the Senate 15,413 times. This means he has lied, on average, 14 times daily.
“What are the ramifications of this? We cannot stop someone from lying but how can we, the American people, get the truth on matters that affect us daily?
“If you, or someone you know, ‘doesn’t care’, why? What makes the lies ’not matter’ in the eyes of someone who ‘doesn’t care’?”
The figure for the number of purported lies by Trump appears to have come from The Washington Post’s continually updated Fact Checker database, which lists all the false or misleading claims made by the president during his time in the White House.
“In 2017, President Trump made 1,999 false or misleading claims. In 2018, he added another 5,689, for a total of 7,688.
“Now, with a few weeks still left in 2019, the president already has more than doubled the total number of false or misleading claims in just a single year,” states The Post’s December article which put the figure at 15,413.
Ken Oakley, grandparent of two Mustang High School students, was one of those who expressed concern about the debate questions.
“This isn’t Mustang. It’s not the way that we think. Meaning, it’s so biased. Everyone has their opinions and their beliefs and everyone’s free to put it out. But not to where it’s just one-sided,” Oakley told KFOR.
In a statement, Mustang Public schools said: “Earlier today [17 January] we became aware of a classroom assignment at Mustang High School involving a political viewpoint. The assignment was from a debate class, and the intended purpose was to encourage students to defend their point of view.
“In a debate class it is appropriate for students to discuss controversial topics which could include various political viewpoints, however it is never the intent for the school to be in a position to influence or sway a students’ opinions on such topics.
“The question was posed in a way that presented only one side of the issue and has been removed from future classes. We understand that this question unintentionally caused a lot of frustration from students and the community, which distracts from the instructional objective.
“Mustang High School will continue to challenge our students but will also be mindful that we are not presenting educational opportunities in a way that could be perceived as to influence our students on political views.”
According to KFOR, the class also had a question asking to debate the merits of funding the border wall.
It is unclear if that question has also been removed from the debate classes. Mustang Public Schools have been contacted for further comment.
