California officials find bias in SJ's ethnic studies classes
British Palestine Mandate map (1920).
Dept. of Ed says Branham High coverage of Arab–Israeli conflict discriminated against Jewish students. The Chron reports.
Two Silicon Valley ethnic studies teachers violated California law when they included content related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was biased and discriminated against Jewish students, state education officials concluded in a recent investigation.
The ruling pertaining to Campbell Union High School District sent one of the clearest signals to date from the California Department of Education that taking sides in the conflict discriminates against students.
The incidents, the department said, violated several sections of state law, including those related to a student’s right to an education free of harassment and bias, as well as one that ensures equal access to learning regardless of race, religion, national origin or another protected status.
The investigation found that the 12th-grade courses at Branham High School in San Jose included biased lessons in 2023. One class participated in a one-sided lesson on anti-Zionism, officials said, with the teacher offering only the viewpoint that Israel is a settler-colonial state. In a separate class, a teacher failed to provide any comment or response to a student’s presentation on “the genocide of Palestinians,” implying tacit approval of the controversial topic, which could have created a hostile classroom environment, state investigators said.
District officials said they were aware of the findings.“Our district unequivocally denounces antisemitism in all its forms,” Superintendent Robert Bravo said in a statement. “We are committed to providing a learning environment that is inclusive, respectful, and aligned with the values of our diverse community.“We are currently reviewing the report in detail and are taking its findings seriously,” he continued. “While this statement is not intended to convey agreement or disagreement with the Department’s conclusions, we will respond thoroughly and thoughtfully within the 30-day period outlined in the Department’s notice.”
How to teach Jewish and Israeli history, as well as the history of Islam and Palestinian people, has long been debated in California schools, especially in the wake of the state’s 2021 decision to add a semester of ethnic studies to the list of high school graduation requirements, starting with the class of 2030.
But the conflict has sparked protests and at times violent confrontations across the nation since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the retaliatory bombing of Gaza, with hundreds of predominantly pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university and high school campuses, including many in the Bay Area.
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