The Rise of Activist Teaching
When Classrooms Become Battlegrounds: The Rise of Activist Teaching and Its Impact on California’s Students
The National Education Association, the largest labor union in the United States, representing almost 3 million teachers, educators, and support personnel, came out with their new guidelines and handbook this week. As I suspected, the 434 page handbook focuses on the “rooting out of systemic racism in our society and institutions, upholding LGBTQ+ rights, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, defending voting rights, promoting environmental justice” (p. 61). The handbook also focuses on promoting gender ideology, “NEA shall add International Transgender Day of Visibility and Coming Out Day to their LGBTQ+ Support and Protection Section on their website to engage more awareness around LGBTQ+ education and essential awareness days” (p. 354). And they have even included requirements to teach a one sided view of the Israel/ Palestine conflict, “NEA will use its existing media outlets to defend educators’ and students’ academic freedom and free speech in defense of Palestine at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities” (p. 356). Teachers are required to promote and prioritize teaching these leftist causes as a higher priority than teaching the basic skills of English, mathematics and science. While some view this as a progressive step toward inclusivity, others argue it’s a form of ideological indoctrination that distracts from core academic instruction and undermines parental rights.
Activism in Teacher Training
Many education colleges across the country now embed social justice frameworks into teacher preparation programs. These frameworks often encourage future educators to view themselves as agents of change, tasked with challenging traditional norms—including those around gender and sexuality. Critics argue that this approach shifts the focus away from academics and toward political messaging.
Meanwhile,California’s public education system is facing a crisis. Despite spending over $128 billion annually on K–12 education, student performance continues to plummet with 75% of students lack proficiency in core subjects like math and reading. Some parents and education experts argue that time spent on ideological content such as gender identity lessons may be contributing to this decline.
Activist teaching promotes a specific worldview, leaving little room for dissent or critical debate. Lessons that frame traditional values as oppressive and outdated discourage students from thinking independently. In some California classrooms, students are asked to participate in “privilege walks” or analyze their identity through frameworks that prioritize race, gender, and sexual orientation.
Mandated LGBTQ Curriculum
California law requires that public schools teach LGBTQ-inclusive content:
The FAIR Education Act mandates the inclusion of LGBTQ figures in history and social science instruction.
The California Healthy Youth Act requires that sexual health education be inclusive of gender identity, gender expression, and same-sex relationships.
In 2025, AB 1955 banned school policies that require teachers to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to parents without consent.
While supporters say these laws protect vulnerable students, critics argue they override parental authority and expose children to complex topics at increasingly younger ages.
Rise in Transgender and LGBTQ Identification
According to a Reuters investigation, the number of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria nearly tripled from 2017 to 2021. In California alone, thousands of Medicaid-covered minors have received gender-related diagnoses and treatments.
A UCLA study estimates that 9.5% of U.S. youth aged 13–17 identify as LGBTQ. How much is activist teaching influencing these numbers?
Exodus to Charter and Private Schools
Faced with declining academic standards and ideological content, many California families are opting out of traditional public schools and choosing to send their children to private schools, charter schools or homeschool them. In response to this, is AB 84, the bill that is currently making it’s way through the California state legislature that would redirect much of the funding that is available for home schooling and flexible -learning charters back to public schools, as well as imposing new mandates and hurdles on charter schools.
A Call for Refocus
Parents across California are demanding a return to academic fundamentals—reading, writing, math, and science—without ideological overlays. The recent Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor affirmed that parents have the right to opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed lessons that conflict with their religious beliefs. Here in Santa Clara County, parents have formed local groups like “School Board Sentinels” and “Informed Parents” and have been attending school board meetings and sharing information to reclaim their voices in the education of their children. Parents have also formed protests against the passage f AB84. These grassroots efforts represent a collective stand in the battle for the minds of our children and have shifted from isolated concern to organized action. In this fight for parental influence over forced ideology from our teacher unions, our community is proving that change begins at the kitchen table, in neighborhood conversations, and in parents uniting to take a stand against the forced indoctrination through our public schools.
