Jewish Parents Can’t Ignore What’s Being Taught in Schools

The first week of school, my daughter discovered that a lesson designed to celebrate different identities had somehow left out her own as a Jewish American. Her first AP Language assignment of the year was about hearing different perspective, a lesson I wholeheartedly support. Students were asked to watch and read a series of videos and essays representing different experiences and points of view. One featured a young woman in a keffiyeh speaking about Islam as a religion of peace. Another featured a woman describing her escape from Iran. But as my daughter watched, she noticed that not one reflected her experience as a Jewish American.

At dinner that night, she told me how disappointed she was. My advice was simple: Tell your teacher.

I encouraged her not to complain or accuse, but to explain that while she appreciated learning about experiences different from her own, she wondered why the Jewish-American experience wasn’t represented.

Her teacher responded immediately and respectfully. She said she hadn’t realized the omission. When my daughter asked who selected the material, her teacher explained that the curriculum came from the school administration, not the AP program. My daughter then asked whether she would share her concern with the administration.

She did. Her teacher is now working to make sure a Jewish-American perspective is included in the assignment. That exchange may seem small. I think it offers an important lesson for every Jewish parent whose child attends a non-Jewish school. We have to start paying attention before there is a problem.

For too long, many of us have assumed that if we send our children to reputable schools with good teachers, they will receive a fair and accurate education. But the past several years have shown Jewish parents that we can no longer take that for granted, particularly when the subjects are Judaism, antisemitism, Zionism, Israel and the Middle East.

That does not mean assuming every teacher is biased or treating every classroom disagreement as antisemitism. My daughter’s experience demonstrates exactly the opposite. Her teacher listened, took her concern seriously and is now working to include a Jewish perspective. But that is also why parents need to remain engaged. We cannot assume that simply adding a “Jewish perspective” means including one that reflects the connection many Jewish Americans have to Israel and Zionism. An administrator with the best of intentions could search a database, select a Jewish voice and unknowingly choose one that is deeply hostile to Israel. That perspective should not be presented as representative of Jewish Americans as a whole. Our job is not finished when a box labeled “Jewish” is checked. We need to pay attention to whose voices are being included, what they are teaching our children, and whether the full breadth of the Jewish experience is being represented.

Jewish parents need to know what our children are being taught. At the beginning of every school year, read the syllabus. Look at the assigned books, videos and supplemental materials. Ask your children what they are learning about Israel, the Middle East and Jewish history. Find out who develops the curriculum. Is it the individual teacher? The department chair? The administration? The district? The state?

And don’t wait until Israel appears in a history lesson. Pay attention to how Jews are represented throughout the curriculum. Are Jews discussed only through the Holocaust? Do students learn that Jewish history stretches back thousands of years and that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel? When Zionism is discussed, is it accurately defined as the Jewish movement for national self-determination, or presented only through the accusations of its opponents? When the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is taught, are students exposed to Israeli and Jewish perspectives as well as Palestinian ones? Are terrorism, wars and historical events presented with context, chronology and competing sources?

These aren’t demands that schools teach our children what to think about Israel. They are demands that schools give them enough accurate information to think for themselves. There is an important distinction between education and advocacy. We should insist that Jewish and Israeli voices are not silenced. Schools should teach children how to think, not what to think. That requires presenting complicated subjects with historical context, intellectual honesty and multiple perspectives rather than reducing one of the world’s most complicated conflicts to oppressor and oppressed, colonizer and colonized, victim and villain.

And when that doesn’t happen, parents need to speak up. Start with the teacher. Ask questions before making accusations. Bring the material that concerns you and ask how it was selected. If necessary, speak with the department chair or principal. Learn who sits on your school board and who approves curricula. Attend meetings when relevant material is being considered. Ask to see the sources being used.

Most importantly, teach your children to advocate for themselves. My daughter didn’t need me to call the school and fight this battle for her. She needed me to help her understand that she had every right to ask why her identity was missing from a lesson supposedly devoted to diverse perspectives. That may be one of the most important things we can teach Jewish children right now. They should not be afraid to raise their hands and say, respectfully, “There is another perspective you haven’t included.”

We also have work to do at home. Schools cannot give our children a Jewish education if we don’t give them one ourselves. If our children don’t know Jewish history, they won’t recognize when it is being distorted. If they don’t understand Israel’s history, they won’t know when important context has been omitted. If they don’t know what Zionism actually means, someone else will define it for them. Our children need more than talking points. They need knowledge. 

Rosh Hashanah is an opportune time to teach them where the Jewish people came from. Teach them about Jerusalem and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Teach them about exile and Diaspora, centuries of persecution and the birth of modern Zionism. Teach them about Israel’s founding, its wars, its peace agreements, its accomplishments and its mistakes. Teach them that loving Israel does not require agreeing with every Israeli government or policy. And teach them to distinguish criticism of Israel from demonization of Israel.

The goal isn’t to raise children who automatically defend everything Israel does. The goal is to raise proud Jewish children who know enough about their own history that they cannot easily be convinced that they have none. For Jewish parents whose children attend Jewish day schools, much of this education is built into the school day. For the rest of us, it isn’t. That means we have an additional responsibility. We cannot outsource our children’s understanding of who they are.

So this back-to-school season, buy the pencils and pack the lunches. But also read the curriculum. Meet the teachers. Ask questions. Know who is making decisions. Support educators who strive for fairness and intellectual honesty, and respectfully challenge schools when Jewish history or Israel is distorted, excluded or reduced to someone else’s narrative. And then make sure the education continues around your own dinner table.

My daughter’s teacher didn’t intentionally exclude Jewish Americans. She simply hadn’t noticed that a Jewish voice was missing. My daughter noticed. She spoke up. And because she did, the next Jewish student who takes that class may see herself represented too. Imagine what could change if all of our children knew they could do the same.

Shirin Yadegar is the founder of LA Mom Magazine and a political commentator.