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OUSD Schools Participate in Pro-Palestine ‘Teach-In’ Despite District Tension

On Wednesday morning, OEA for Palestine members issued a statement calling out the superintendent and the district for trying to intimidate teachers from participating in the teach-in. “By attempting to chill academic freedom on this topic, OUSD is clearly taking a side in the war on Gaza,” said the statement.

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The conflict between Israel and Hamas has given rise to tension in the City of Oakland not only with OUSD teachers but in an emotion-filled City Council meeting (above) on Nov. 27 when Oakland leadership approved a cease-fire resolution. Magaly Muñoz file photo.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has given rise to tension in the City of Oakland not only with OUSD teachers but in an emotion-filled City Council meeting (above) on Nov. 27 when Oakland leadership approved a cease-fire resolution. Magaly Muñoz file photo.

By Magaly Muñoz, Post Staff

Teachers throughout the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) participated in a “teach-in” on Wednesday, where they informed students about the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, despite efforts by the district to shut it down.

In a YouTube video that was circulated within the district titled “Why YOU Should Participate in the December 6th Teach-In,” Jacob Fowler, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School encouraged teachers to use a curriculum favoring the Palestinians when discussing the conflict with their students.

Tension across the Bay Area has heightened over the escalating conflict overseas that started with an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 in Southern Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis, and provoked a response that has led to more than 16,000 Palestinian fatalities so far, nearly half of whom are children.

OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell issued a statement Monday morning saying that the teach-in curriculum was “unsanctioned” and did not align with district guidelines.

“I want to make clear that the District does not authorize this action,” Johnson-Trammell said in her statement.

She explained that while the aim is to equip students to engage with local and global issues, educators must keep to principles of education and “keep their personal beliefs out of the classroom.”

Lesson plans for the day included educational materials suitable for grades K-12. These resources were assembled by ad-hoc members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA), the teacher’s union, specifically on the topic of Palestine. The materials included a variety of resources such as picture books, case studies and PBS videos.

On Wednesday morning, OEA for Palestine members issued a statement calling out the superintendent and the district for trying to intimidate teachers from participating in the teach-in.

“By attempting to chill academic freedom on this topic, OUSD is clearly taking a side in the war on Gaza,” said the statement.

The group also hosted a Zoom meeting on Wednesday titled “From Gaza to Oakland.” The meeting featured a panel consisting of representatives from the Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voices for Peace, and the Black Alliance for Peace.

During the meeting, speakers were asked questions about how students can become more involved in the Palestinian movement and how this issue affects people in Oakland.

A teacher with OUSD who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said OEA was expecting about 75-100 teachers across the district to participate in the teach-in.

She explained that her third-grade students responded really well to the curriculum and posed thoughtful questions about the conflict. Her school principal was on board with the teachers who opted to use these lessons as a conversation starter for discussions with students. She expressed confidence that parents would be receptive to this approach.

“I’m not hiding anything from parents, and I truly believe that they will be grateful that we’re having these conversations and we’re doing it in a way with safety and respect,” the source said.

While she has received positive responses from her school and students, the teacher expressed concern about her job, citing a quote that OUSD Board President Mike Hutchinson gave to the East Bay Times about teachers potentially losing their jobs as a consequence of participating in the teach-in.

Hutchinson did not respond to multiple attempts by the Post for a comment.

Parents and community members did express concern over the curriculum that was presented to students about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Stephisha Ycoy-Walton, a mom to an OUSD student, shared that she wished the discussions about the war did not disrupt students’ education. She understands that students may be curious about the issue but emphasized that the district needs to care more about what’s happening in the classroom, rather than what’s happening on the other side of the world.

She expressed that she would have appreciated OEA members reaching out to parents to get their view on what was going to be taught to students, especially given that it was against what the district would typically allow.

“We have to be very careful in how we allow children to grow and to formulate their thoughts and opinions because what we do know is that our children are a total makeup of all of their influences, their environment, what they soak in, by what they hear, what they see, they soak it all in,” Ycoy-Walton said.

Allegedly, some parents across the district chose to keep students from class on Wednesday and some are even considering moving their kids to alternative schools or private school, says Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Bay Area.

He shared that the Jewish community is fearing for their lives and are starting to feel excluded in all areas of society, now including schools.

“We need to show that we are resilient, that we belong to this community and that we’re not going anywhere. We have to overcome that sense of fear right now and show the broader community who we are,” Gregory said.

Gregory wished that the lesson plans had been more inclusive to all sides of the conflict, saying that Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, and Israeli groups should all have a voice in the curriculum.

Magaly Muñoz

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper. Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities. The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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