Citizens of the World Charter Schools East Valley teacher promotes teaching first grade students that Israel is committing “genocide” on social media

On November 9, 2023, Dave Rubin posted on X that someone sent images to him of where a transgender teacher at the East Valley campus of Citizens of the World Charter Schools in California “has been teaching 1st grade kids about ‘genocide’ in Palestine instead of math.” This teacher openly claimed on social media to have taught students that Israel was committing “genocide”:

I started by telling them that we weren’t gonna do math at the usual time bc sometimes there are big things in the world that need our attention and we need to interrupt our usual routines to make space to learn and talk about what’s happening. Then I asked them this to prompt conversation about human needs and “rights.”

This teacher also said that “I did a lesson on the genocide in Palestine today w my first graders who give me hell 90% of every day but were really into this convo and series of activities and it made me remember why I do this job for like a good hour and a half.” In another post, this teacher stated:

Then I asked them what they already knew about what’s happening (they knew a lot and had questions) and I drew a little map of the occupied territories of Palestine, then they organically started coming up w ideas for what could happen (my fav was a kid who was like “what if they just give the land back to Palestine and find somewhere else to live?”)

The public charter school has a page online for “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB).” This page mentions that the school held a community event “in collaboration with the Jewish community center and congregation – Mitzvah Day.” Images of the event are also shared.

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