San Diego teacher criticized for saying Hitler had 'strong leadership qualities' during class

SAN DIEGO (KABC) -- A middle school teacher near San Diego is facing criticism for saying Adolf Hitler had strong leadership qualities during one of her classes.

The teacher at Carmel Valley Middle School shared a board with her students that featured photos of notable world leaders, including Hitler.

When a student asked why Hitler was included, the teacher reportedly told him that while Hitler may have done some bad things, he also demonstrated strong leadership qualities.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading global Jewish human rights organization, spoke with KGTV in San Diego and believes "there was a failure in the classroom."

The organization issued a public statement about the incident, saying it's not interested in seeing anyone involved punished, but members do want to see proactive steps taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"In this case, taking all those important positive figures of history and then putting Hitler right in that mix is wrong," said Cooper. "The real goal here is not to punish anyone, let's say educate our educators, and do a better job for our kids here in California."

The principal of the school has since issued an apology and the district has said it will organize anti-bias training for faculty and staff, specifically around anti-Semitism.

The comment is the latest in a series of controversial statements made by people connected to the San Dieguito Union High School District this year.

The superintendent was fired several months ago after controversial comments she reportedly made about Asian students.

Last month, a school board member was accused of making transphobic comments after messages he allegedly posted online surfaced.

Those troubled by the most recent incident say they simply hope a lesson was learned.