Public Schools and Political Activism: A Call for Educational Reform

4 weeks ago 0

The North American Values Institute recently reviewed a series of webinars on using public schools to support the movement to ‘free Palestine.’ These webinars were spearheaded by Marci Winograd of Code Pink, who leads the pro-Palestinian caucus of the California Teachers Association.

One webinar featured dance teacher Laura Pinho. Pinho, with a social media history filled with antisemitic comments, discussed integrating Palestinian ‘resistance’ in dance lessons, using state academic standards to guide students toward a predetermined political stance. The standards aim to teach independent thinking, not indoctrination. However, Pinho’s approach clearly served the latter.

This is no isolated incident. The California Teachers Association and its Los Angeles affiliate have allowed anti-Israel activism to proliferate in Los Angeles Unified School Districts. They use politicized narratives that marginalize Jewish parents and educators.

For instance, a Jewish teacher, Amy Leserman, was publicly denounced and removed from a union leadership meeting for being a ‘known Zionist.’ Despite her 25-year dedication as an educator and union leader, Leserman’s political stance led to exclusion by United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart Cruz. Meanwhile, five motions related to Israel and Palestine were put to vote. This scenario demonstrates how public education has become a platform for political activism instead of focusing on learning fundamentals.

Schools should teach about political conflicts with balanced perspectives and evidence. They should not recruit students for personal political causes or exclude those with differing opinions. Both political extremes are guilty. For example, Oklahoma legislators attempted to integrate election conspiracy theories into lessons about the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Texas has mandated Bible verses as required reading. These actions derive from the idea that schools should be battlegrounds for adult political battles, not educational spaces for developing knowledge and civic responsibility.

While adults argue over politics, student achievement has suffered. Twelfth-grade reading and math scores have hit historic lows. Promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are meaningless if students cannot read those words.

The deeper issue is educators politicizing classrooms instead of focusing on education. Parents and students lack enforceable rights to demand quality education. Children are legally required to attend failing schools, leaving an opening for ideological misuse rather than teaching. It’s time to recognize unbiased, high-quality public education as a true civil rights issue.

Recognizing educational quality as a civil right involves ensuring high-level instruction in reading, writing, reasoning, and math. Standards should prioritize transparent academics over ideological recruitment. Families should have recourse when schools fail to provide adequate education.

By making educational quality a civil right, power would shift to students and parents, allowing them to demand schools meet educational obligations. Schools belong to neither political left nor right. They belong to American parents and children.

Ben Austin, founding director of Education Civil Rights Now and former staffer for Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign, highlights these critical points.