Oakland Unified School District employee accused Israel of “apartheid” and “massacre”; teacher linked to Hayward Unified School District’s ethnic studies program claimed students need to be taught anti-Israel rhetoric to become “active voters”

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Oakland Unified School District seeking emails that board members both sent and received regarding Israel and a “Palestine teach-in” that occurred in December 2023. In one email that PDE received to the Board of Education, an employee of the district described herself as a “credentialed History and Social Studies teacher for the past 20 years.” She stated:

Isn’t taking a public stand exactly what made our national heroes be heroes, our community mentors be mentors, our leaders to be leaders? They—despite the risks—followed a moral compass and spoke truth to power. Such actions inspire others and can shift the course of history.

She then accused Israel and “Zionists” of killing “Palestinians” and “apartheid.” She stated:

It was 1917 when the new colonizer the British signed the Balfour Agreement with a newly formed Zionist organization to “hand over” Palestinian land. But more significantly, it was 1948—just 75 years ago—-when almost a million indigenous Palestinians were expelled from their homes or killed by the Zionists. 1948 is when the appeal to global humanity began. To this date, the occupation, daily violence, and apartheid laws continue to affect indigenous Palestinians.

She called the Board of Education to pass a ceasefire resolution because “the people have spoken.” She followed this with:

If those in power wanted to, they could end this massacre tomorrow. We call on any and all institutions, including OUSD, to immediately use their influence and power to stop the Israeli bombardments, and to end military aid funding that is enabling this mass violence against Palestinians.

PDE did find the employee’s name on the school district’s website.

Another email was from Carla Schick who claimed to be “a Jewish American and a committed liberationist educator.” This teacher stated:

For myself, as a person who has been active in the struggle for a Liberated Ethnic Studies, including the intersection with Queer Studies, I believe that building our students’ critical thinking and knowledge about the conditions under which we live is essential for them becoming active voters, citizens and residents of our country. The situation in Israel and Palestine is often presented as “complex.” The emotions surrounding the situation is complex, but the desire for land, liberation and self-determination for the Palestinians is no different than what we all want for ourselves and what anti-colonial movements have fought for since modern colonialism.

She continued to explain that “students need the opportunity to have deep conversations of Israel’s role as a colonial-settler project.” She then used identical language as the previous email to support the ceasefire resolution:

If those in power wanted to, they could end this massacre tomorrow. We call on any and all institutions, including OUSD, to immediately use their influence and power to stop the Israeli bombardments, and to end military aid funding that is enabling this mass violence against Palestinians.

PDE did not find this teacher’s name on the website for the Oakland Unified School District. However, her name was connected to the Hayward Unified School District. PDE found her name listed as an author of the Hayward Unified School District’s Ethnic Studies Program.