Ten California Families—Jewish and Palestinian—Fight Back Against Classroom Censorship in Critical Lawsuit
A well-funded campaign is trying to erase Palestine from classrooms and decide what millions of California students are allowed to learn. But we are fighting back.
The Case
On May 11, 2026, K-12 Legal Defense and Leonard Carder, LLP filed a motion to intervene in Brandeis Center v. California Department of Education on behalf a group of ten California families—Jewish and Palestinian parents and students enrolled in public schools from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.
The families are intervening to protect three key student rights:
- First Amendment rights — including the right to receive information about Palestine and ethnic studies, free from viewpoint discrimination and judicially-enforced censorship
- Equal access to education — free from anti-Palestinian discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, or national origin
- Religious freedom — including the right of Jewish families to define their own identity without state-imposed definitions they do not accept
California is home to the largest Palestinian community in the nation—the scale of potential harm from anti-Palestinian racism is unprecedented.
On May 19, the judge invited our attorney to state our case, a sign the court is taking our coalition seriously. The judge also froze all evidence-gathering: a huge win. Brandeis Center wanted to force teachers and administrators to spend their summer break digging through emails and communications instead of preparing for the new school year. Every hour a public school employee spends on a lawsuit is taxpayer money out of the classroom. The judge blocked it and told the plaintiffs: Nothing here is urgent. Brandeis Center didn’t get the fast-track they wanted.
The court also invited us to submit an amicus brief or “friend of the court” written argument explaining why this case should be dismissed. This is our chance to put on record what’s really at stake: the right to teach honest history, and the difference between antisemitism and political dissent. A Palestinian-Jewish coalition, making that argument together.
What’s at Stake
California’s public schools serve over 6 million children. The Brandeis Center—a pro-Israel nonprofit with $18.7 million in revenue—is directing those resources toward litigation aimed at shaping what California’s most vulnerable students are allowed to learn.
California’s public schools routinely cannot afford basic classroom supplies. 8 in 10 of our students are Black, Brown, or Asian, and 6 in 10 are economically disadvantaged. With more than 28,000 Palestinian-Americans in our state, ethnic studies is often the only space in public school where Palestinian students’ identities are acknowledged and their history is taught. A court order built around the Brandeis Center’s demands would render those students’ own identities suspect, or dangerous, in their own classrooms.
This is the latest move in a coordinated legal campaign that has already reshaped instruction at Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Santa Ana Unified School District—systematically suppressing Palestinian history, erasing critique of U.S. military policy, and imposing a definition of antisemitism contested by Jewish scholars as a tool for controlling classroom content.
If the Brandeis Center prevails in California, it sets a national precedent.
Who We Represent
Our clients are a group of ten families with children in California public schools—some in the same districts as the original plaintiffs. They are Jewish and Palestinian, united under the coalition California Right to Learn and Belong.
“This case will decide what millions of California students are allowed to learn, and whose identities are recognized and whose are erased in the classroom.” — Liz Jackson, Legal Director, K-12 Legal Defense
From Our Clients
“I joined as an intervenor because I don’t want the education policies in California dictated by pro-Israel entities. At stake is my Palestinian children’s academic freedom to learn about Palestine.” — Molly Sampson, Parent, Berkeley Unified School District
“I am the granddaughter and daughter of Holocaust survivors. I will not stand by as the plaintiffs try and erase a people — specifically Palestinians.” — Leah Simon-Weisberg, Parent, Berkeley Unified School District
“As Jews, we can create safety from antisemitism when we learn to act in solidarity with other peoples and cultures who have been subjected to oppression, including Palestinians.” — Joshua Rutkoff, Parent, Los Angeles Unified School District
What Happens Next
By June 26, Brandeis Center and Stand With Us file an updated complaint. 45 days after that the state of California will likely ask the court to throw the case out. By August/September the Judge will rule.
If Brandeis’ claims are dismissed, the case is over. If it survives, our request to formally join the case gets heard then.
If granted, our clients become full parties to a case that could shape public school instruction across California, and set a precedent for every state in the nation.
Download the Full Press Release.
Read the Court Filing.
SUPPORT THIS FIGHT
California’s most vulnerable students shouldn’t pay the price for a privately funded censorship campaign. If you believe every student has the right to an honest education, stand with these families.
For press inquiries contact Sahar Habib Ghazi at sahar@k12defense.org Follow us: @k12defense