Washington Teacher Causes Uproar After Assigning 6th-Grade Students To Compare Hitler, George W. Bush

A Washington D.C. middle school teacher is in deep water after instructing her sixth-grade students to make comparisons between former President George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler for a class assignment, according to district officials, causing uproar among parents.

The unidentified educator at McKinley Middle School sent students home with a Venn diagram instructing them to compare and contrast Hitler and Bush as part of a unit on "War and Peace," stating that "both men abused their powers," USA Today reported. It was left to the students to determine how Bush, the 43rd U.S. president who was elected to two terms, stacked up against Hitler, whose Nazi Germany perpetrated a Holocaust that killed more than 6 million Jews.

The assignment prompted immediate complaints to the McKinley Middle School administrators from at least one parent, who said that it showed disrespect for the office of the president, according to WRC-TV.

According to a copy of the assignment released to the media, the students were assigned to write the similarities and differences between the two leaders based on two different texts they were studying of the Holocaust and the Iraq war, UK MailOnline reported.

"Now that we have read about two men of power who abused their power in various ways, we will compare and contrast them and their actions," the homework assignment reads. "Please refer to your texts, 'Fighting Hitler - A Holocaust Story' and 'Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite No WMD' to compare and contrast former President George W. Bush and Hitler. We will use this in class tomorrow for an activity!"

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Washington Times that he called the school office to complain and was told that the assignment was part of a curriculum unit approved by the school system.

"I think trying to compare Adolf Hitler to an America president is just not right," the parent told the paper. "I didn't agree with Mr. Bush or his policies, but that was over the line."

But the D.C. Public Schools has since issued a statement, claiming that the two readings had been approved but that the texts were not meant to be compared as assigned by the teacher. They also condemned the teacher's actions.

"The teacher deeply regrets this mistake, and any suggestion to malign the presidency or make any comparison in this egregious way," school system spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz said.

School officials will also send a letter home to families explaining the incident, while the teacher plans to apologize to students in class on Thursday, according to USA Today.

"The teacher admits to extremely poor judgment and short sightedness and will apologize to students. The school will also send a letter home to families explaining the incident and offering to address any additional questions should they arise," a written statement read.

Meanwhile, Marc Thiessen, who worked for years as Bush's speechwriter, said the teacher should be terminated immediately.

"A person who can't tell the difference between George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler shouldn't be teaching children," Thiessen told FoxNews.com. "This isn't even political bias, this is utter incompetence."

For now, however, it remains unclear whether the teacher will be disciplined over her controversial actions.