The California Department of Education determined that teachers in two San Jose-area school districts, Campbell Union High School District (Campbell Union) and Santa Clara Unified School District (Santa Clara Unified), engaged in discriminatory conduct against Jewish students. The Department ordered both districts to provide anti-bias and anti-discrimination training and ordered Santa Clara Unified to provide additional training on students’ rights against retaliation.
At Branham High School in Campbell Union, two teachers in an Ethnic Literature class presented content related to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Teacher A acknowledged conducting a lesson during a “community circle” that was not part of the approved curriculum. The discussion, under a broader theme of colonialism, asked students to consider whether Israel is a settler colonial state. The materials included a video of a rabbi wearing a Palestinian flag stating “A Jew is not a Zionist” and a reading from Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” The California Department of Education found that the lesson lacked a balanced perspective and could encourage antisemitism. The Department stated that, for the lesson to be unbiased, it would have needed to include a video reflecting a pro-Israel viewpoint, which would have allowed students to form authentic responses to the questions.
Also at Branham High School, Teacher B did not question or comment on a student presentation titled “Genocide of Palestinians,” and later posted the presentation on a class social media page. The Department stated that the legal issue was whether the teacher adequately responded to ensure a non-discriminatory and balanced learning environment. It concluded that the Teach B’s failure to comment could have been interpreted by students as approval of the presentation’s thesis. Campbell Union had previously dismissed the complaint, but the Department found that the teachers’ actions violated state anti-discrimination standards.
The Department found two separate violations at Santa Clara Unified. In one case, a teacher assigned a genocide project and modeled the Gaza conflict as an example. The presentation described Israeli actions as “amount[ing] to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” among other politically charged terms. Santa Clara Unified’s internal investigation concluded that the lesson was “poorly timed,” “controversial,” and “politically charged,” but found no policy violation. The Department determined that the content violated the Education Code’s protections against discrimination and intimidation based on religion, ethnicity, and nationality.
In the second incident, a teacher confronted a Jewish student about an Israeli speaker that the Jewish Culture Club had invited speak. In front of other students, the teacher urged the student to disinvite the speaker, stating the talk would provoke antisemitism and reflect poorly on the student. Santa Clara Unified concluded that the teacher’s conduct was “objectively offensive” considering the power imbalance and the student’s Jewish identity, but it did not find clear evidence of discrimination or harassment. The Department disagreed, concluding that the teacher’s actions created a hostile environment and violated the student’s right to be free from discrimination and intimidation.
The Department ordered Campbell Union to provide at least one hour of anti-bias training for all English language arts and social studies teachers by the start of the next school year. It directed Santa Clara Unified to train all high school staff on students’ rights to be free from discrimination, harassment, and intimidation based on race, ethnicity, religion, and nationality. The Department also required Santa Clara Unified to take appropriate actions to protect the student complainant from retaliation.
Cal. Dep’t of Educ., Direct Investigations Office, Investigation Report, Case No. 2025-0008 (Apr. 4, 2025)(Campbell Union Investigation Report); Cal. Dep’t of Educ., Direct Investigations Office, Investigation Report, Case No. 2025-0010 (Apr. 10, 2025)(Santa Clara Decision of Appeal).