Three teachers wearing keffiyehs at a Los Angeles high school used dance performances, classroom flyers and lessons to promote pro-Palestinian political messages, creating what investigators described as a “hostile environment” for Jewish and Israeli students.
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Student Civil Rights determined that the teachers at Canoga Park High School violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as a California law prohibiting biased instruction.
The investigation followed a complaint filed by the North American Values Institute, or NAVI, with Jewish Teachers Los Angeles and Emet Legal. NAVI said the district substantiated all 11 allegations. The report does not identify the teachers by name, instead referring to them as Teacher 1, Teacher 2 and Teacher 3.
Investigators emphasized that criticizing Israel or supporting Palestine “do not, by themselves, establish Title VI discrimination.” They said the violation arose from the teachers’ repeated use of their authority, classroom time and school programs to promote the same political message.
Most of the findings involved Teacher 1, the school’s dance instructor and adviser to its Students for Justice in Palestine club.
According to the report, she taught students about Palestinian resistance through the music, movements and history incorporated into their dances. She also characterized her students as “taking a stand.”
A May recital began with a student introduction describing schools and homes destroyed in Gaza and urging support for Palestine and the club, the report said. Teacher 1 then required students to review the dance team’s YouTube recital playlist as part of a graded final exam. The playlist included selections portraying Gazans as “martyrs.” The teacher denied running the YouTube channel, while the principal told investigators that she did, according to the report.
Investigators also found that Teacher 1 pulled 49 students from class to attend a Students for Justice in Palestine meeting in June. She kept “Free Palestine” and genocide-related posters in her classroom windows throughout the school year and offered community-service hours to students who attended Gaza fundraising events at her church, the report said.
The district found no evidence that she altered grades or punished students who did not share her views.
Teacher 3 repeatedly connected Israel to genocide in classroom discussions, including comparisons between Gaza and the Holocaust, students told investigators. The report said he placed videos titled “Is Israel Guilty of Genocide?” and “How Did the Nakba Happen?” in a folder labeled “Videos – The Armenian Genocide” and encouraged students to join the Students for Justice in Palestine club.
Teacher 2 displayed three flyers in the classroom, including one that read “Israel kills! USA pays!!” and another that attributed Palestinian children being orphaned to “Israeli genocide on Gaza.” The principal said the teacher used the flyers in lessons and reposted them after they had been removed.
The report said all three teachers wore keffiyehs while teaching and promoting the cause. The district clarified that its finding was based on what the teachers said and did, “not on the keffiyehs alone.”
Investigators also criticized a principal-approved library display created with the teachers’ assistance. The exhibit depicted Palestinians “solely as victims” and Israel “solely as the aggressor.” NAVI described it as a “mini-Gaza” display featuring vehicles marked with the Star of David beside images of dead children.
The district ordered the flyers, posters and videos removed by Oct. 29. By Nov. 18, advisers to the Students for Justice in Palestine club must be restricted to “non-participatory supervision,” while the dance team’s YouTube channel must operate under administrative oversight, according to the findings.
All faculty members and administrators must also receive training on Title VI and the prevention of antisemitism by Dec. 18. The three teachers will be monitored afterward.
The report said instruction about genocide and current events remains permissible as long as it follows state standards and avoids “employee political advocacy.”
“This determination establishes a national precedent for holding public school educators accountable when political activism replaces objective instruction,” NAVI founder and CEO David Bernstein said in a statement.
Ben Austin, NAVI’s California director and a former member of the California State Board of Education, praised the district’s “thorough investigation” but cautioned that “this is clearly not an isolated incident.”
“The LAUSD and districts throughout California must promulgate policies to codify these findings,” Austin said.
Amy Leserman, chair of Jewish Teachers Los Angeles, said her group filed a public records request that “helped break this case open.”
LAUSD declined to elaborate.
“The District investigates complaints under the Uniform Complaint Procedures process in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and issues findings and corrective actions consistent with those standards,†a spokesperson told the California Post. “As these matters may include student or personnel information, confidentiality laws preclude sharing additional information.â€
The district declined say whether the teachers are still in the classroom.
