Three teachers at Canoga Park High School violated federal civil rights law and a California statute barring biased instruction, according to findings from the LA Unified School District’s Office of Student Civil Rights, which determined the educators created a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students through dance recitals, classroom flyers and lessons used to promote pro-Palestinian political messaging. The district has ordered flyers, posters and videos removed from classrooms by Thursday, October 29.
The investigation substantiated all 11 allegations brought against the Canoga Park staff, according to the New York Post, which first reported the district’s findings. The complaint that triggered the probe was filed by the North American Values Institute with Jewish Teachers Los Angeles and Emet Legal, and separate reporting from Jewish Insider confirms that LAUSD substantiated all 11 allegations against the teachers, identified in the district report only as Teacher 1, Teacher 2 and Teacher 3. District investigators found the teachers promoted one-sided political views about Israel and Gaza through required classroom lessons and recruited students for Students for Justice in Palestine, per Jewish Insider’s account.
Dance Recitals and a Disputed YouTube Channel
Teacher 1, who worked as the school’s dance instructor and adviser to its Students for Justice in Palestine club, taught Palestinian resistance through the music, movements and history of dances and described students involved as taking a stand, according to the Post’s reporting. The school’s May dance recital reportedly opened with a student introduction about destroyed schools and homes in Gaza that urged support for Palestine and the club, and Teacher 1 assigned students to review the dance team’s YouTube recital playlist for a graded final exam — a playlist that included selections framing Gazans as martyrs.
Teacher 1 denied operating the YouTube channel, though the school’s principal said she did, according to the Post’s account of the findings. Investigators also found that Teacher 1 summoned 49 students from class to attend an SJP meeting in June, kept Free Palestine and genocide-related posters in classroom windows throughout the school year, and offered community-service hours for attending a Gaza fundraising event at her church. The district said it found no evidence that Teacher 1 changed grades or penalized students who disagreed with her views.
Flyers, Keffiyehs and a Library Display
Teacher 3 repeatedly linked Israel with genocide in class and urged students to join SJP, with students recalling classroom comparisons between Gaza and the Holocaust as part of the findings, per the Post. Investigators also found that Teacher 3 filed videos titled Is Israel Guilty of Genocide? and How Did the Nakba Happen? inside a folder labeled Videos – The Armenian Genocide…