Union endorses 'Gaza to Oakland' teach-in, says they won't be intimidated

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland's teachers union endorsed a pro-Palestine teach-in on Wednesday despite the superintendent's warning that the curriculum is not sanctioned by the district, setting up a possible showdown over an issue that has garnered national headlines. 

Oakland Unified parent Nate Landry and OUSD substitute teacher Judy Greenspan said that this "Oakland to Gaza" teach-in – which is voluntary – aims to teach students about the human tragedy in Gaza and Israel and to make sure everyone has access to "diverse viewpoints." 

In fact, they said, that the curriculum, which uses WWII-era propaganda cartoons and asks third-graders to draw "Zionist leaders," attempts to "remedy the lack of diverse viewpoints." 

Unfortunately, Landry and Greenspan said, Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell is trying to "intimidate" teachers planning to participate in the teach-in. According to Greenspan, about 100 teachers have said they would participate. 

Jewish agencies, including the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee, have strongly criticized the material as biased, inaccurate and inflammatory. 

One of the biggest bones of contention is that the material does not mention the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, doesn't explain that the state of Israel was born out of the Holocaust and defines a Zionist as a bloodthirsty land grabber who wants a state only for Jews.

To many Jews, the word Zionism simply means a love for Israel and a belief that Jews should have a safe homeland to live in. 

"We are deeply concerned," AJC Rabbi Serena Eisenberg said. "Some lesson plans have not been approved and they are simplified materials that promote stereotypes and factual inaccuracies.  We expect teachers to teach math and reading and science. They're not supposed to be promoting their own political views in the classroom."

But Landry and Greenspan pushed back, saying the Palestine curriculum comes from a variety of sources, including the Abolitionist Teaching Network, Teaching While Muslim, The Zinn Education Project, Teaching Palestine, UNICEF, Teaching Tolerance, and more. Oakland educators have created additional resources, with their students in mind, they said. 

"We can't force anyone to teach it a certain way,'' Greenspan said on Wednesday. " In education, there have been times where curriculum has been used in lock step. This is not scripted curriculum. We took it from many sources." 

The Oakland Education Association For Palestine group was referring to a statement Johnson-Trammell put out on Monday, warning that the teach-in is not aligned with district educational protocol. 

Screen shot from OEA for Palestine teach-in curriclum. 

Trammell-Johnson reminded teachers that they should not spend class time on any topic which they feel is not suitable for the class or related to the established course of study.

She did not specifically lay out what would happen to teachers if they went forward with the teach-in, but her words were heartening to many Jewish educators who felt that there could be some form of discipline meted out for teachers who decide to teach the curriculum, despite the teachers' assertion that they have academic freedom to teach what they want. 

At least one Jewish educational group, The Deborah Project, disputed the academic freedom notion. 

And they sent every OUSD principal a "cease-and-desist" letter, saying that the teach-in, which they called a "takeover," is "expressly prohibited" by rulings of the highest court in California, as well as federal courts throughout the country and all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

"Teachers have no free speech rights in the classroom," The Deborah Project's letter states. "They work for the government and their speech is government speech."

The controversy over the teach-in has piqued national interest, as evidenced by coverage of it in the New York Times.  

Josh Diamant, a Jewish teacher at Lincoln Elementary School who is opposed to the specific curriculum, said most of his colleagues said they're too busy to develop an entire Middle East lesson plan for a day. 

Diamant, like many other Jews and Jewish organizations, say the material is one-sided and wrong. 

On a personal level, Diamant said he is a very "visible Jewish" teacher on campus, and he fears what will happen if his students approach him and ask him if he is a Zionist.

"It's putting me in the position to set the record straight," he said. "I'm not an expert on the Middle East. I'm a music teacher." 

Another Jewish parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she's happy for her child to learn about Palestinian people. 

"What I oppose a propagandist agenda where I have to choose," she said. "This curriculum creates a false dichotomy that either Israel is right or Palestine is right." 

She supports Palestinian self-determination and she is highly critical of the far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu.

But this particular curriculum, she said, would "lead students to believe that Israel doesn't want peace and that's simply not true. Even my 10-year-old gets this." 

But at least one teacher will most likely be participating in the teach-in.

That would be Jacob Fowler, also coincidentally at Lincoln Elementary. Last week, he put out a YouTube video calling for the teach-in and asking all teachers in the city to participate, saying it's an effective use of their labor power. 

He has yet to respond to KTVU for comment. 

Daniel Stewart, who was dropping his student off at Lincoln Elementary early Wednesday morning, said in general, he believes that learning about a variety of perspectives is good. 

"But I think that some of the material that was posted online is controversial, at least, and some of it is in bad taste."