Rep. Michelle Steel calls for federal investigation into Santa Ana Unified after company is sued over alleged anti-Semitism – Orange County Register

Rep. Michelle Steel has requested a federal civil rights investigation into the Santa Ana Unified School District’s alleged anti-Semitism surrounding its ethnic studies program.

In a letter sent to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday, Sept. 26, Steel and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, declared ongoing litigation – after allegations that the district’s Ethnic Studies Steering Committee was developing a curriculum with anti-Semitic content The process, which violates the Brown Act, has already revealed “an alarming pattern of anti-Semitism at the highest levels.”

In 2023, the Santa Ana Unified school board approved two ethnic studies courses that included lessons on colonialism around the world, cultural appropriation, Native American culture and white privilege.

It involves incorporating teachings critical of the Israeli government that were later questioned by pro-Israel groups.

In September 2023, a group of Jewish organizations – the Anti-Defamation League, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the American Jewish Committee – and the law firm Covington & Burling filed a lawsuit against Santa Ana Unified. They claimed that these teachings “contain false and harmful narratives about Israel and the Jewish people.”

The content of Santa Ana Unified’s courses was inspired by proposed state education policies that Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed in 2020 due to bias, the lawsuit says. The goal of this law was to make a one-semester course in ethnic studies a requirement for high school graduation, but Jewish groups subsequently argued that the proposed curriculum was anti-Semitic. Newsom signed a separate measure in 2021 requiring ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement.

Santa Ana Unified’s lawsuit alleged that the courses were developed “in secret” behind closed doors by a committee set up by the superintendent to develop ethnic studies curriculum under the direction of the school board, in violation of California law open meetings were violated. Enacted in 1953, the Brown Act “guarantees the right of the public to attend meetings of local legislative bodies,” according to the attorney general’s office.

The lawsuit asks the court to stop Santa Ana Unified from teaching the ethnic studies courses, which were “adopted in violation of the law,” until they are lawfully approved.

District spokesman Fermin Leal denied the allegations related to Brown Act violations. Leal said the lawsuit incorrectly assumes that the steering committee is an “official” subcommittee of Santa Ana Unified, which would subject it to the Brown Act’s open meeting laws. But that was not the case, he said.

“The Steering Committee is an advisory body that utilizes the public to gather perceptions, expertise and competing viewpoints from diverse constituencies before recommending the final model curriculum to the Board for adoption,” Leal said. “This is the same process we use to adopt other curriculum models.”

David Loy, legal director of the government watchdog group First Amendment Coalition, questioned the legality of the steering committee’s alleged private meetings.

“Brown Act matters are decided by substance, not form,” Loy said. “If this committee is established by the board, it is subject to the Brown Act.”

In evidence filed in August, the organizations suing the district said they received text messages between “high-level district officials” discussing approving courses during Passover, a major Jewish holiday. (It is unclear in the lawsuit whether a senior district official is a board member, steering committee member or other official.)

According to the lawsuit, one Santa Ana Unified official said in a text message to another, “I would like to note that there is no public comment on ethnic studies.” We may have to use Passover to get all new courses approved. The other officer responded, “That’s actually a good strategy,” according to the lawsuit.

A school board member also suggested Jewish people should not be included in the ethnic studies curriculum because “they are subject to racialization that falls into the category of white people,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit alleged that a member of the district’s ethnic studies steering committee privately referred to a Jewish member of the committee as a “colonized Jewish spirit” and a “(expletive) baby” for raising concerns about anti-Semitism.

During a Santa Ana Unified board meeting on April 25, board member Rigo Rodriguez acknowledged potential problems in one of two proposed ethnic studies courses and suggested a vote be tabled for two weeks. However, Board President Carolyn Torres said she agreed with approving the course “based on my personal opinion.”

The board then voted 3-0 in favor, with Rodriguez abstaining. The second course was unanimously approved.

Torres did not respond to a request for comment.

The courses are taught to high school students in the district.

“Open meetings are required by law to prevent situations like this,” said James Pasch, senior director of national litigation at ADL. “The anti-Semitism that influenced this process sent a clear message to Jewish students and families that their voices were not welcome and that they were intentionally excluded.”

The curriculum was approved before Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked a massive wave of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

While reported hate crimes in California fell 7.1% in 2023 compared to the previous year, reported anti-Jewish bias crimes increased from 189 in 2022 to 289 last year, an increase of 52.9%, and reported anti-Muslim ones Hate crimes increased from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023.

In August, the Orange County Board of Education began developing its own ethnic studies curriculum for its Alternative, Community and Correctional Education Schools and Services program, which could also be made available to school districts throughout the county.

The Board of Education oversees special education and alternative programs in the county, including ACCESS, which serves students who face academic and social challenges in traditional classrooms and helps adults earn their high school diploma.

Trustee Jorge Valdes, who suggested the district board create the curriculum, pointed to Santa Ana Unified and said he wanted the process to be “very open and transparent” rather than “completely secretive,” as Santa Ana has been accused of being.

It’s “clear that certain individuals made a concerted effort to conceal their biased motives,” Steel said of the Santa Ana Unified case. “For this reason, we demand that (the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights) initiate a formal investigation into this matter to ensure that all wrongdoing comes to light and that those responsible for perpetrating this discrimination are held fully accountable under federal law.” be drawn.”

An Education Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Leal, the Santa Ana Unified spokesman, said the district is confident that if Steel’s request for an investigation is approved, “despite some strong opinions from members of the committee, it will come to light that personal bias was not reflected in the final product we adopted.” “.

“The goal of the curriculum is to approach coursework with critical thinking skills,” Leal said. “We seek to teach our students not what to think, but how to think about and approach controversial issues that evoke different perspectives, historical interpretations and opinions.”

A hearing in the case is scheduled for November in Orange County Superior Court.